Education at Yarran Dheran

Yarran Dheran is more than a beautiful reserve — it’s also a living classroom. Through the Whitehorse Council’s Environmental Education Program, schools, early learning centres, tertiary students and community groups can explore the reserve while learning about local ecology, sustainability, and the importance of protecting bushland in an urban setting. The Environmental Education staff in collaboration with Parks Advisory Committee volunteers deliver hands-on learning experiences that connect people of all ages with the natural world.

The Environment Education Program at Yarran Dheran includes a range of excursion topics with onsite facilities, Yarran Dheran is an ideal location for environmental education and discovery. Excursions for schools and early learning centres are offered on Wednesday and Thursday. To learn more about the programs and to book your excursion please visit the Whitehorse Council Environmental Education page.

The Yarran Dheran Advisory Committee also provides opportunities for the community to learn more about the environmental values of the Reserve through its substantial community-focused environmental education program.

Visit our Eventbrite page to learn more about our upcoming community events and to register.

Educational Initiatives

  • The Yarran Dheran Advisory Committee hosts a range of education activities and events that help people discover the plants, animals and ecology of the Mullum Mullum Valley. From educational walks and birdlife talks to nocturnal prowls and citizen science projects, visitors can learn from local experts and get involved in caring for the reserve.

    Visit our Events Page to see upcoming events.

  • Programs offered for schools and early years: 

    Early Years & Kinder

    • Caring for Country

    • Healthy Waterways

    • Exploring the Bush/Bushkinder

    • Habitats for Wildlife

    • Minibeasts

    Primary

    • Caring for Country

    • Healthy Waterways

    • The Web of Life: Biodiversity and Ecosystems

    • Threads of Connection: People, Places and Nature

    • Minibeasts

    Secondary

    • Caring for Country

    • Healthy Waterways

    • The Web of Life: Biodiversity and Ecosystems

    • Earth Under Pressure: From Impact to Action

    • Citizen Science Champions

    For more information about these program topics and to book an excursion visit the Whitehorse Council Schools and Early Years Environmental Education webpage.

    Please contact Enviro.Ed@Whitehorse.vic.gov.au if you would like to book an excursion for tertiary students or a community group. 

    If you would like to become a volunteer to support the education program at this site, you can submit an EOI on the Whitehorse City Council website.

  • Citizen science encourages public participation and collaboration in scientific research. By participating in a citizen science program at Yarran Dheran, you can help with the collection of important data whilst learning more about our local fauna and flora.

    Find out more about ongoing projects or citizen science events at Whitehorse on the council citizen science page.

    Regular Activities

    You can get involved in monthly bird surveys, quarterly frog surveys, Waterwatch monitoring of Mullum Mullum Creek, and tree hollow surveys, helping collect important data while learning more about our local fauna and flora. Read more here.

    Bioblitz Events and iNaturalist

    iNaturalist is a free and easy to use app that helps you identify plants and animals whilst at the same time collecting important data about local biodiversity that scientists can use to better understand species distribution. You can use this app to participate in yearly events, such as the City Nature Challenge, Great Southern Bioblitz or the Biodiversity Blitz in September or create your own projects. 

  • Yarran Dheran is a convenient excursion site for visiting schools, offering easy bus parking and available shelter and toilets. School groups can also access the site by public transport, with Heatherdale and Mitcham railway stations about a 30‑minute walk away and nearby bus routes 370, 270 and 901.

Learn More

  • Yarran Dheran offers an opportunity to study habitat, flora and fauna not commonly found in an urban location, as well as a running creek that has remained above ground and not been channelled or barrelled over time as has been the fate of many urban creeks.

    Being part of the iconic Mullum Mullum Valley, the Reserve represents opportunity to study one of the last areas of dry sclerophyll forest and valley heathy forest in urban Melbourne as well as riparian vegetation afforded by the creek.

    A wide range of acacias may be identified in the reserve; the name ‘Yarran Dheran’ is believed to derive from the Wurundjeri meaning of ‘Wattle Gully’.

  • Further opportunities for study present themselves in relation to habitat and fauna. Yarran Dheran is part of an important corridor for wildlife due to the existence of the Mullum Mullum Creek which flows upstream from Croydon and then downstream to Templestowe to its confluence with the Yarra River. Short-finned eels may be found in the creek, as well as some native fish and a range of micro and macroinvertebrates.

    The corridor provides passage, while the Mullum Mullum Valley provides diverse habitat to a range of fauna, some of which is not seen elsewhere in Whitehorse, including echidnas. Seven species of frogs are found in the ponds together with Eastern Long-necked Turtles. As well, the Reserve is home to some 80 species of birds. Permanent residents include small birds such as Red-browed Finches, Superb Fairy-wrens and Eastern Spinebills and Grey Fantails while others, including Olive-backed Orioles, are seasonal visitors.

  • Ongoing human activity has seen the ongoing restoration of the bushland.

    These efforts continue to the present day through preservation of remnant bush and revegetation of degraded areas.

    Thus the Reserve provides an opportunity to study both the negative impact of human use as well as more recent work, which while concerned with bush protection and revegetation, must also address modern problems of litter, especially in the creek.