Why does the Botanic Gardens Trust want to move the flying-fox colony?
Roosting flying-foxes are killing significant trees and plants in the Royal Botanic Gardens. Damage to trees from flying-foxes continues to be severe and widespread in the Palm Grove and rainforest areas in the centre of the Gardens, with more than 300 trees and palms (10 per cent of the collection) as well as the under-storey plants affected in some way. Eighteen trees have died and at least 135 trees have sustained serious damage to part or all of their canopies. Sydney tree expert, Judy Fakes, has advised us that heritage trees in the Palm Grove will continue to die unless we do something now. As well as direct damage to the tall trees where the flying-foxes roost, palms in the lower canopy, some of which are rare or uncommon, are indirectly affected by sunburn from the loss of the upper canopy and having their fronds plastered with flying-fox guano. This indirect impact has also caused a significant loss of under-story plants in the Palm Grove (e.g. a lot of wild sourced aroids col
