Some of us have a relationship with Mullum Mullum Park without even realising it. If you’ve travelled through the EastLink tunnels, you’ve passed beneath this beautiful patch of bushland in Melbourne’s east.

Above the tunnels is a remarkably diverse reserve, with forests, creek lines and an incredible range of wildlife. It’s also a place with an important conservation history. A strong community campaign helped ensure the freeway went beneath the Mullum Mullum Valley rather than cutting through it, protecting habitat that remains incredibly valuable today.

I’m walking with ecologist and herpetologist David De Angelis, President of Frogs Victoria and a well-known figure in Melbourne’s conservation community. David’s knowledge is broad and incredibly sharp. He moves comfortably through the bush, reading the landscape and noticing signs of a whole world of species that most of us would simply walk past.

As we walk, David opens up a whole world that’s easy to overlook. We talk about the threatened Southern Toadlet, a species that has disappeared from many places where it was once found around Melbourne. David takes us into its unusual life cycle, the threats it faces and the work that has helped us understand what is happening to these frogs. We also get into chytrid fungus, burrowing crayfish and the surprising diversity of reptiles and frogs still living in the Mullum Mullum Valley. Partway through our walk, an unexpected encounter with a Tiger Snake takes the conversation in a different direction.

David is enthusiastic, curious and a passionate advocate for reptiles, frogs and the other less noticed parts of our natural world. We’re lucky to have people like him who not only spend their lives understanding these species, but communicate why they matter.

Because of people like David, we know more about what is living around us, what is disappearing, and what we need to protect. Places like Mullum Mullum Park demonstrate just how much nature can still survive within Melbourne, sometimes without us even knowing it’s there.

Mullum Mullum Park is in Donvale and forms part of a larger network of bushland and reserves along Mullum Mullum Creek and through the Mullum Mullum Valley.

https://abzeco.com.au/team/david-de-angelis/

https://www.frogsvic.org/

https://www.fncv.org.au/fauna-survey-group/

https://www.parks.vic.gov.au/places-to-see/parks/mullum-mullum-park

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=BlFYqO4AAAAJ&hl=en