Thousands of native birds and animals are injured or killed in fruit tree nets each year. Help protect our unique native wildlife for future generations, by doing your bit in Yarra.

To help tackle this problem, the Victorian State Government has moved to ban fruit tree netting that can kill or harm wildlife, under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. Fruit tree netting that is unsafe for wildlife will become illegal in September 2021. 

What you can do

• Don’t wait until September 2021 – you can protect Yarra’s flying-foxes and our other native animals by not using unsafe netting on your fruit trees today. 
• Use net bags or fruit socks to protect bunches of fruit or individual branches, rather than netting whole trees.
• Leave what you don’t need to share with wildlife. 
• Remove old netting that is not protecting fruit, and check netted trees every day to ensure the nets are not loose and no animals are trapped.
• Dispose of old netting responsibly.
• Report it – if you see any wildlife trapped in netting, call Wildlife Victoria on 8400 7300 for rescue, or report it on their website.

What makes netting unsafe?

• Any netting with holes greater than 5mm by 5mm when fully stretched is unsafe. If you can poke your finger through, then it is capable of injuring wildlife. 
• Netting with an individual strand diameter of 500 microns or more (0.5mm) is also unsafe.
• Wildlife can’t easily see black, dark green or grey netting.