Listen to Finding Melbourne’s Nature
Finding Melbourne’s Nature is a podcast and field-based project, built around walking conversations through reserves across Melbourne, with Traditional Owners, scientists, rangers, conservationists, and community members. Together, we explore what lives in these places, what’s changed, what needs protecting, and sometimes the paths that led people into conservation.
Recorded in the field, these conversations capture birds, wind, footsteps, and the atmosphere of each place.
The first episode of Finding Melbourne’s Nature, recorded at Darebin Parklands with long-time ranger Peter Wiltshire, who has spent over 40 years working in the reserve. A deeply knowledgeable and respected voice in the community, Peter shares the history of the park, its restoration, and what it means to care for nature in the middle of a city.
Find out more and listen here:
Episode 2
Docklands - Dr Kylie Soanes
Recorded in Docklands, Melbourne/Naarm, beside the floating wetlands Kylie helped bring to life, this is not a typical conservation setting. Surrounded by concrete, water and movement, a small patch of habitat quietly doing its work.
Kylie shares how these wetlands came to be, what they’re already supporting, and what they represent in a city like Melbourne/Naarm right now.
She also reflects on her journey into conservation, and how that has shaped the way she sees cities — exploring the kinds of places we create, and how they can invite biodiversity back into urban landscapes.
Find out more and listen here:
Episode 3
Banyule Flats - Dr Jacinta Humphrey
Recorded at Banyule Flats Reserve, Melbourne/Naarm, this episode follows a walk through wetlands, billabongs and remnant bushland with urban ecologist Dr Jacinta Humphrey.
Jacinta shares how birds persist, adapt and even thrive in city environments, and what places like Banyule Flats reveal about the role of urban nature.
She also reflects on her journey into conservation, and how that has shaped the way she sees cities — and how the spaces we create can better support biodiversity.
Find out more and listen here:
Episode 4
Westgate Park - Naomie Sunner
Recorded at Westgate Park in Port Melbourne, this episode follows a walk through one of Melbourne’s most remarkable urban restoration sites.
We’re joined by Naomie Sunner, who in the late 1990s led and established the Friends of Westgate Park, helping transform what was once a heavily modified, neglected landscape into the park it is today.
Naomie shares how a seven-day walk along the Birrarung brought her here, and how that moment grew into decades of community-led conservation.
Episode 5
Braeside Park - Judith Sise
Recorded at Braeside Park in Melbourne’s south east, this episode follows a walk through wetlands, grassy woodlands and protected heathland within one of the city’s most important urban reserves.
We’re joined by Judith Sise OAM, president of the Friends of Braeside Park, who shares the changing history of the landscape, from Carrum Carrum Swamp to grazing land, sewage farming and decades of community conservation.
As we walk through the reserve, Judith reflects on old river red gums, disappearing orchids, wetlands shaped by the seasons, and the ongoing work involved in caring for a place like this.
Episode 6
St Andrews - Wendy Probert
Recorded near St Andrews on Melbourne’s north-eastern edge, this episode follows a walk along roadsides that at first glance seem unremarkable, but reveal an extraordinary diversity of native orchids once you slow down and look closely.
We’re joined by Wendy Probert, a long-time member of the Australian Native Orchid Society and director of the Australian Orchid Foundation, who shares decades of knowledge about Melbourne’s orchids and the landscapes they inhabit.
As we walk, Wendy introduces the orchids growing around us, the fungi and pollinators they depend on, and the subtle relationships that make these remarkable plants possible.
Recorded at Edithvale Seaford Wetlands, this episode follows a walk with Kinjia Munkara Murray, a proud Tiwi and Rembarrnga woman and insect enthusiast.
As we move through the wetlands, Kinjia opens up the hidden world of ants, their behaviour, their role in ecosystems, and the many small things most of us walk straight past.
We talk about Tiwi knowledge, insect ecology, pollination, soil, seeds, and why places like these wetlands matter for the creatures beneath our feet.
Episode 8
Pinkerton Forest - Daryl Akers
Recorded at Pinkerton Forest near Mount Cottrell, this episode follows a conversation with long-time volunteer Daryl Akers in a remarkable remnant of old-growth Grey Box woodland on the Victorian Volcanic Plain.
As birds call around us, Daryl shares the story of how the forest has been protected, the wildlife it supports, and why places like this are becoming increasingly important as Melbourne's suburban edge continues to spread.
We talk about wedge-tailed eagles, tree hollows, habitat restoration, community conservation, and the small group of volunteers helping care for this special place.
Recorded at Professor's Hill Reserve in North Warrandyte, this episode follows a walk with renowned botanist David Cameron, whose generosity, curiosity and five decades of work have inspired generations of conservationists across Victoria.
As we explore one of Nillumbik Shire's most remarkable bushland reserves, David shares the stories hidden within the landscape, from rare orchids and mosses to towering eucalypts, revealing how every plant has something to teach us.
We talk about botany, threatened plants, reading landscapes, and the community effort that helped protect Professor's Hill as a public reserve.
Episode 10
Uambi Reserve - Dr Kaori Yokochi
Recorded at Uambi Reserve in Heathmont, east of Melbourne, somewhere between the city and the Dandenong Ranges, this episode follows a walk with wildlife ecologist Dr Kaori Yokochi through one of Trust for Nature's protected reserves.
Together we explore the hidden world of Melbourne's microbats and discover why darkness is every bit as important to nature as daylight. We talk about light pollution, dark corridors, urban ecology, and the surprisingly simple things we can all do to make our suburbs better places for wildlife.
Kaori is an exceptional ecologist and educator. She has an incredible ability to explain complex ecological ideas in a way that's warm, engaging, practical and genuinely exciting. If you've ever wondered what happens in Melbourne's natural world after the sun goes down, I think you'll love this conversation.
Episode 11
Gresswell Forest - George Paras
Recorded at Gresswell Forest in Bundoora, in Melbourne's north-east, this episode follows a walk with conservationist George Paras through one of the most intact patches of grassy woodland left in the region.
Together we explore more than 40 years of ecological restoration knowledge, from dormant seed banks waking after decades underground to the astonishing underground journey a single fish took to reach this reserve. We talk about patience in conservation, the hidden relationships between wattles, ants and butterflies, and what it really takes to bring a landscape back to life.
George is an exceptional conservationist and communicator. He's spent decades learning from this one patch of land and has a rare ability to explain the smallest ecological details in a way that's warm, generous and endlessly curious. If you've ever wondered what real, patient restoration looks like up close, you will get a lot out of this.
