Finding Melbourne's Nature
Finding Melbourne’s Nature is a walking conversation series exploring the wild places within the city.
Ecologist Ben Cullen walks through reserves, wetlands and remnant bushland across Melbourne/Naarm with Traditional Owners, First Nations voices, conservationists, scientists and community members, each choosing a place that matters to them.
Together they walk and talk about what lives there, what’s changed, what needs protecting, and their own journey in learning about and caring for nature.
You’ll hear footsteps on tracks, birds overhead, wind in the trees, and the city never too far away.
Episodes
16 episodes
Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne with Eilish Roberts
Southern Brown Bandicoots were once among the most common and widespread mammals around Melbourne. Today their populations are much more fragmented, making the population at Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne especially important.For this ...
Nepean Peninsula with Gidja Walker
Gidja Walker OAM has spent more than four decades helping people understand and care for the Mornington Peninsula. An ecologist, ethnobotanist and artist, she has an extraordinary ability to see the connections between geology, plants, animals,...
Yellingbo Nature Conservation Area with Bruce Quin
Yellingbo Nature Conservation Area is a fascinating place. Covering around 600 hectares of forest, swamps and winding creek lines in the Yarra Valley, it is home to two critically endangered species: the Helmeted Honeyeater and the lowland popu...
Newport Lakes with Dr Dominique Hes
Newport Lakes is one of Melbourne's most remarkable examples of ecological restoration. Once a working bluestone quarry, it has been carefully transformed into lakes and a rich variety of habitats that now support a remarkable diversity of wild...
Gresswell Forest with George Paras
George Paras has spent more than four decades caring for Gresswell Forest. For more than 36 of those years, he worked as a ranger at La Trobe’s Nangak Tamboree Wildlife Sanctuary, helping restore this forest and the surrounding bushland. Today,...
Uambi Reserve with Dr Kaori Yokochi
What happens when we make the night brighter?In this episode of Finding Melbourne's Nature, we head to Uambi Reserve in Heathmont with wildlife ecologist Dr Kaori Yokochi from Deakin University to explore the hidden world...
Professors Hill Reserve with David Cameron
This is our most botanical episode yet. Prepare to get a little plant nerdy.Professor's Hill Reserve, in North Warrandyte within Nillumbik Shire, might only cover five hectares, but it contains one of Melbourne's richest and most signifi...
Pinkerton Forest with Daryl Akers
At Pinkerton Forest in Mount Cottrell, on Melbourne’s western edge, we’re walking through one of the last remaining patches of grassy woodland in this part of the state.In this episode of Finding Melbourne’s Nature, I sit down w...
Edithvale-Seaford Wetlands with Kinjia Munkara-Murray
At the Edithvale Seaford Wetlands, I’m walking with Kinjia Munkara Murray, a proud Tiwi and Rembarrnga woman, and someone who sees a whole world most of us miss.From the start, we’re stopping constantly. Looking at ants, watching movemen...
St Andrews with Wendy Probert
Out towards St Andrews on Melbourne’s north-eastern edge, some of the most important habitat isn’t in reserves at all, it’s along the roadside.In this episode of Finding Melbourne’s Nature, I walk with Wendy Probert, a long-time...
Braeside Park with Judith Sise
Braeside Park in Melbourne’s south east is a big reserve with a mix of wetlands, grassy woodlands and heathland, and a history that’s shifted a lot over time.In this episode of Finding Melbourne’s Nature, I walk through the park...
Westgate Park with Naomie Sunner
At the edge of the Birrarung, beneath the West Gate Bridge, sits one of Melbourne’s most unexpected urban landscapes.Westgate Park wasn’t always like this. Once a heavily modified and neglected site shaped by landfill and industry, it ha...
Banyule Flats with Dr Jacinta Humphrey
In this episode of Finding Melbourne’s Nature, we walk through Banyule Flats Reserve with urban ecologist Dr Jacinta Humphrey.Moving through wetlands, billabongs and remnant vegetation along the Birrarung, Jacinta shares her jou...
Docklands with Dr Kylie Soanes
In this episode, I’m joined by urban ecologist Dr Kylie Soanes.We meet in Docklands, in Melbourne/Naarm, beside the floating wetlands Kylie helped bring to life. It’s not a typical conservation setting. Concrete, water, buildings and mov...
Darebin Parklands with Peter Wiltshire
In this first episode of Finding Melbourne’s Nature, we walk through Darebin Parklands with Peter Wiltshire, long-time ranger with the Darebin Creek Management Committee.Once a quarry and later a tip, Darebin Parklands is now a ...