 They often display the physical scars of traumatic events both man made and natural, those scars can often make relatively young trees appear much older than they actually are - such trees can be described as having been veteranised.There is legislation (in the form of national, state and local laws) which recognizes the importance of protecting the environment but there are many gaps in the limited protection afforded veteran trees, particularly in the face of ever increasing pressures of urban development.The Veteran Tree Group Australia, a volunteer organisation, is applying the successful model from the Ancient Tree Forum in the UK starting the process of documenting veteran trees in Australia, and along the way providing best practice advice to anyone wanting to understand more about these significant elements of our environment.