Regional Flying Fox Management Plan

Flying foxes play an essential role in maintaining the health and variety of forests on the Sunshine Coast. However, living nearby to these native animals can be challenging.  

Council understands how difficult it can be living near flying-fox roosts in urban areas, and we have a long-term aim to entice flying-foxes to a more suitable home. We conduct research to better understand how they choose their roost sites and are rehabilitating more appropriate reserves with trees they like to live in and food they like to eat.  

Options available to council to respond to community concerns about flying-foxes are outlined in the regional flying fox management plan (PDF, 1.54 MB). These include:

• meetings on site with local residents and assessing the situation
• education, signage, monitoring and early intervention if necessary or possible
• developing a site specific options paper and partnership options to explore possible ongoing actions.

Too long to read? Watch this YouTube video to find out more about council's Regional Flying Fox Management Plan.  

Regulations and legislation

Flying-foxes are native animals, and all flying-fox species are protected in Queensland under the Nature Conservation Act 1994.

The grey headed flying-fox is listed nationally as a threatened species and protected under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. For more information visit the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW).

The Australian Government has a national recovery plan for the grey-headed flying-fox available on the DCCEEW website. To ensure council’s actions are consistent with these laws, our RFFMP is approved by the Australian Government as a Conservation Agreement for the grey-headed flying-fox

CSIRO is responsible for the national flying-fox monitoring program. Survey results for roosts within the Sunshine Coast and throughout Australia can be viewed on the National Monitoring Program interactive map viewer.

All proposed management actions at flying-fox roosts must comply with the Queensland Government's Department of Environment, Science and Innovation authorised flying-fox roost management protocols. Management actions at roosts containing grey-headed flying-foxes must also comply with the federal governments referral guidelines.