The flying-foxes in Yarra Bend Park have some excellent neighbours. Yarra City Council regularly organises guided flying-fox tours for their residents, a collaboration with Mappa Outdoor and the council’s Climate Emergency Engagement Team.
We have run family friendly and sunset fly out tours, as well as multicultural bat walks for which Yarra City invited neighbourhood houses and community organisations to come for a hike. Early on, council staff mentioned that the guided bat tours were their most popular event, with a waitlist for most events.
As we are living through a climate crisis, Yarra City wants to provide opportunities for residents to connect more with our local environment. The flying-fox roost site in Yarra Bend Park is a great place to build connections with the more-than-human world. The flying-foxes are also a species heavily impacted by habitat destruction and climate change. That’s why we discuss the impact of extreme heat on the flying-foxes and how people have responded to that in Yarra Bend park. Yarra City and Mappa staff always make sure to outline ways in which people can advocate for the flying-foxes and care for them.
We have had some incredible sunset fly out experiences together. My favourite spot to stop and chat is at the viewing platform during golden hour.
