Flying fox expert Lawrence Pope believes flying foxes should be left alone

Kooloonbung Reserve and Wrights Creek Bridge areas are heavily populated by the grey-headed flying fox.

Residents living in the area shared their concerns with Minister for Heritage Gabrielle Upton on July 24 during a visit to the area.

Residents have complained of the noise and smell, and fear colonies will expand to other areas.

Flying fox expert and president of Friends of Bats and Bushcare Inc, Lawrence Pope, is frustrated by the apparent lack of education on the animals he says are vital to the environment.

"We (humans) have annihilated over 95 per cent of their population since 1900 and destroyed a vast amount of food resources to the point where millions upon millions have starved to death," he said.

"Flying foxes build forests. That’s their job. Yes there is some localised wear and tear but the overall job is massively in their favour.

"The word 'combat' is not an appropriate term to use to in relation to a declining pollinator listed federally as vulnerable to extinction."

Their importance to the environment includes dispersing seeds for more than 100 native tree species. They play an important role in pollinating flowering plants.

Seed dispersal expands the gene pool within forests. Mature trees then share their genes with neighbouring trees of the same species and this transfer strengthens forests against environmental changes, Mr Pope explained.

In turn, native forests provide valuable timber, act as carbon sinks, and stabilise river systems and water catchments.

Mayor Peta Pinson confirmed a report would be compiled for the August meeting of Port Macquarie-Hastings Council before a plan of management is developed with funding on the table from the government.

Council's 2012 Kooloonbung Creek plan of management outlines its current flying fox management strategy.

It says residents living near flying fox camps are "generally accommodating" of them.

"When conflict occurs it is usually over amenity issues (smell, noise, defoliation of branches), disease concerns and damage to commercial or residential fruit crops," the strategy says.

"Traditional approaches to managing conflict at flying fox camps involved aggressive disturbances such as explosives, diesel spray, fires or killing, however those methods failed to provide long-term solutions.

"There is a growing view that it is best to manage camps where they are and develop strategies to reduce their impact using methods such as programs of public education or manipulation of vegetation to create buffer zones between roosting flying foxes and residences."

There is no indication of what measures will be implemented into the future by council, if any.

Complaints from those concerned about flying fox camps included the loss of the canopy near the flying fox colony.

Mr Pope asked what the community’s ecological role is compared to that of the flying fox, and encouraged those disgruntled residents to reach out to flying fox groups to learn to live with the animal.

"Under storeys in colonies benefit from the bats thinning some canopy above," he said. 

"Extra sunlight means that more grows below. Residents can also plant under storey when the bats leave certain areas.

"The Wrights Creek and Kooloonbung area is a typical Australian flying fox colony. They are like bee hives.

“There aren’t too many bats or too few bats, there is just the right number and population levels will rise and fall seasonally."

He believes if flying fox numbers are permanently increased it is because other camps have been disturbed by development, deforestation or other human activities.

"Many Australians would pay extra to live near a flying fox camp. The residents can move if they don’t like it," he said. 

"We are in a period of emergency conservation. I am sorry, but people’s lifestyle concerns just don’t cut it."