Exclusion netting systems are the only humane method for preventing flying-fox damage to orchards, especially during seasons when natural food is in short supply. As the forests that provide natural food are eliminated, and flying-fox pressure on orchards therefore increases, the need for netting becomes more acute. However, poor returns make it hard for the grower, especially the small-scale grower, to meet the cost of exclusion netting. Low interest loans that cover the cost of netting are available through the NSW government's Rural Assistance Scheme. However, the criteria for assessing eligibility for the loans are too limiting and should be altered. In addition, fruit growers find it difficult to get accurate, up to date information on netting. A netting hotline should be established to provide growers with information on net design, how to reduce the cost of netting their crops and contact details for contractors and suppliers. Finally, flying-foxes are important to the environment. We need to develop programs that educate people to conserve flying-foxes, rather than exterminate them.

Biological research has been dominated by focussed effort on few model species and recent commentaries further discourage broadening the range of study species. It is undeniable that we now have unprecedented detail of information on the genetic, molecular and cellular biology of model species, but whether their biology can be broadly generalised is unclear. By channelling research into a limited range of species, we miss the opportunity to test theory on a wider range of species and the discovery of new biological phenomena. With new technologies and laboratory facilities becoming more affordable and accessible, establishing new species as models has never been more promising and important.

F orestcheck is a monitoring framework devised in 1999 to quantify, record, interpret and report on the status of key forest organisms, communities, and processes in response to both forest management activities and natural variation. Monitoring is treated in this initiative as a form of quality control, and not as a substitute for audit, compliance, survey or research. The most desirable attributes of a monitoring system were identified as simplicity, integrated sampling, efficient sampling, reliability, feasibility, credibility and affordability. It is recognized that it is not possible to optimise all of these traits simultaneously. F orestcheck has been designed to align with the Montreal Process Criteria and Indicators approach to achieving ecologically sustainable forest management (ESFM, agreed to jointly by the Commonwealth and State Governments in 1998). A concept plan was prepared and workshopped within the Department of Conservation and Land Management and with scientists from universities, CSIRO, and other agencies in the WA Government, as well as scientists privately employed. Sampling commenced in November 2001.

From a horticultural perspective, several issues need to be borne in mind when considering future management of flying-foxes as a vulnerable species. Of particular concern are the processes for obtaining approval to harm species listed as threatened under the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 (TSC Act). The procedures can be complex and costly, and it is unlikely that many growers could afford to comply with the requirements of the Act. In addition, the processes required under the TSC Act are relatively slow and unsuited to the rapid response needed when sudden large influxes of flying-foxes occur. In addition to new approval processes, there is a need for a significant and urgent research effort to develop and validate alternative crop protection strategies to those currently available. The immediate challenge is to source the necessary funds for this research effort. The development of future management strategies for Grey-headed Flying-foxes will require communication between National Parks & Wildlife Service as regulators, conservation groups, growers, researchers and other relevant agencies. NSW Agriculture supports the establishment of a NSW Flying-Fox Consultative Committee similar to that now running in Queensland.

Debate surrounding the effectiveness, or otherwise, of marine reserves has not been well informed by data. However, in areas where marine reserves have been established for some time, valuable information is now becoming available. New Zealand's no-take marine reserves have demonstrated large increases in abundance and size of exploited species such as Snapper Pagrus auratus , Spiny Lobster Jasus edwardsii and Blue Cod Parapercis colias in marine reserves. Significant increases have been rapid, occurring within one year in the case of snapper, but only evident where full no-take protection is afforded. These increases in biomass of exploited species translate into levels of egg production between 4.4 and 18 times those of surrounding areas of coastline. There is no evidence of increased egg production translating into increased recruitment to fished populations, but such effects would be impossible to detect given the small proportions of coastline protected in reserves. There is some evidence that, in marine reserves, benthic soft bottom communities have responded to protection from direct effects of fishing such as trawling and dredging. More surprising have been the indirect responses of benthic reef communities to protection from fishing. Recovery of predators such as P. auratus and J. edwardsii has allowed urchin-dominated barrens areas to revert to more highly productive kelp forests. In this way reserves have allowed us novel insights into ecosystem function as well as the pervasiveness of indirect fishing effects. New Zealand reserves offer no direct evidence of the often-touted spillover-related enhancement of fisheries yield. However, they also show that reserves do not “lock up” fisheries resources and at least for J. edwardsii , CPUE (Catch Per Unit Effort), yield and costs are just the same adjacent to a reserve area as in open fishing areas nearby. Thus both conservation goals are achieved at no cost to the fishery. Despite advances in fisheries management structures in New Zealand, such as the Quota Management System, significant uncertainty remains about levels of stock abundance and catch rates. This is true even for New Zealand's best-studied stocks, such as P. auratus. Given that even the best fisheries management systems remain demonstrably less than perfect, it seems reasonable to try and guarantee some minimum level of stock abundance by putting in place marine reserves. On balance there is ample evidence to show that positive outcomes can be provided by reserves, and little or no support for suggestions that reserves will have negative effects for both conservation and fisheries.

Many fruit growers see flying-foxes such as the Grey-headed Flying-fox as a threat to their livelihood. Understandably, when large numbers of the animals suddenly enter orchards and cause significant damage, growers start to talk of “population explosions” of the animals. In this paper we describe the seasonality, longevity and low reproductive potential of flying-foxes, and show that rapid expansion of their populations, at rates comparable to those of small rodents, simply is not possible. Sudden incursions of large numbers of flying-foxes into orchards reflect migration of animals into a food source from elsewhere. The “natural” longevity of flying-foxes and low reproductive rate of only one offspring per female per year reflects the environment in which these bats evolved - one in which they suffered a low annual mortality and could afford a low reproductive rate. We show that the major factor which determines the rate at which flying-fox populations increase or decline is mortality, and that an additional annual mortality of 10%, “imposed” (for example by “culling”) upon the animals' “natural” mortality, could lead the entire Grey-headed Flying-fox population into decline. Because of the animals' mobility, localised culling (as in the Melbourne Botanic Gardens) will not solve problems caused by the bats and, if continued, will act as a pteropucidal black hole, attracting to their deaths a continuing stream of animals from far afield. If the community wishes to protect flying-foxes, then it must recognise the genuine concerns of growers for their livelihoods, subsidise non-lethal modes of protecting crops, and provide support for research into cheaper and more effective means of protection.