Our Yarra River, Birrarung is a thriving river for our thriving city.

It provides a unique place of transition, both spiritually and physically. Here the river and its treasured banks and backdrops are Melbourne’s meeting place; an inclusive and iconic place for connection, celebration, recreation and learning.

Our love for its vast and expanding green spaces and clean waters provide a healthy habitat for all.

The river is seen as an iconic symbol of central Melbourne for locals and visitors – a place where people of all backgrounds have come together for generations.

It is the site of the first location of European settlement in Melbourne, its course and surrounding landscape significantly changed and modified since.

A modern and growing cityscape surrounds sites of Aboriginal significance and examples of our more recent industrial history on the edges of the river.

It is surrounded by essential spaces for relaxation, recreation and events for our busy and growing city population.

Its banks are lined with buildings, promenades and other social infrastructure.

• Celebrate the river as the centrepiece of Melbourne, acknowledging its role in our history and how it drives the city’s continued success.
• Position the river as a symbol of learning and respect for Aboriginal culture, deepening community understanding of the sacred role it plays for Traditional Owners.
• Foster innovative urban waterway and open space planning to ensure the needs of our growing city are balanced with the future environmental health of the river.
• Expand our connected network of treasured Yarra parklands, creating better access and more spaces for relaxation and recreation.
• Showcase the river as a place for sustainable and creative events, with a focus on culture, sport, ecology and education.
• Position the river as an environmental educator, helping communities better understand its role in keeping Victoria healthy in the past, present and into the future.

Our Yarra River, Birrarung provides a continuous network of protected parklands, providing inclusive access to all.

A covenant of custodianship is adopted by private landowners along the reach, embedding a culture of respect and responsibility for river values.

The river corridor provides a healthy natural environment, enabling swimming, relaxation and other recreational activities. Importantly, it also supports a flourishing natural ecosystem, including networks of billabongs and wetlands, for indigenous plants and animals to thrive.

This is a valued place of connection to Wurundjeri culture and community, with a network of hubs of learning, play and celebration. It benefits from a united and integrated approach to governance and land management, guided by the wisdom and practices of Traditional Owners, keeping culture not just in the past but alive into the future.

The river runs through a landscape which comprises bushland, farms, urban environments and more formal open spaces.

The river’s character is varied and includes steep gorges, expansive floodplains and networks of billabongs.

A near-continuous network of accessible parklands, public and private golf courses and conservation areas support the natural character of the river corridor, while protecting local populations from flood.

The river is a vital refuge from the city with recreation trails providing links to inner-city Melbourne.

Bolin Bolin Billabong and the confluence of the Merri Creek and Yarra River are amongst numerous sites of cultural significance for the Wurundjeri people.

• Expand the river’s local parklands and trails to improve continuous access, increase biodiversity and enhance river health.
• Celebrate our spiritual connection to the river and its surrounds.
• Establish new habitat for endangered birds, fish and wildlife.
• Employ collaborative planning processes for development to ensure changes are for the benefit of the river and the advantage of all in the community, not just the few.
• Collaborate to provide innovative immersive experiences with nature by expanding natural river tracks and creating environmental playgrounds along the corridor.
• Explore opportunities for community education and connection to Wurundjeri knowledge and cultural practice and significant sites.

From Healesville to Warrandyte, our Yarra River, Birrarung and its surrounding environment is embraced and cared for through a deep understanding and sense of custodianship, the way the Wurundjeri have always done.

It is embraced by a wide, mature cloak of indigenous vegetation through the flats, filled with the sights and sounds of native animals and birds.

Our Yarra River, Birrarung is home to happy farmers, making a living and caring for the river and its lands.

People visit the river in key locations to meet and play in, on and beside the water whilst learning about its rich history, its Wurundjeri carers and incredible environmental values.

From Yering Gorge, our Yarra River, Birrarung is continuously replenished by plants and animals from Kinglake and beyond, joining the river on its journey to the city.

Open, expansive pastoral land along the river is framed by surrounding mountain ranges.

The Yarra flats (upstream of Yering), cleared of native vegetation, are used for farming and agri-tourism which contribute significantly to the Victorian economy.

Around Yering Gorge there is an enclosed corridor of indigenous vegetation replenishing the river, alongside many billabongs and wetlands with high biodiversity values.

Many parts of the river lack direct public access, which has led to the preservation of an extensive natural habitat corridor.

Numerous places of high cultural significance for the Wurundjeri people run alongside the river, such as Mount Lofty and the Brushy Creek confluence.

• Improve community access at sensitive locations to enrich local connections, whilst protecting the region’s natural environment.
• Bring improved biodiversity to our local area, enhancing indigenous vegetation, animal, insects and fish in our habitat corridor and surrounding billabongs.
• Foster and support sustainable agricultural practices which exist in harmony with the river and its lands.
• Work with the Wurundjeri people to protect and enhance knowledge of local cultural values and sites.
• Explore innovative tourism opportunities around activities such as education, cultural heritage and fishing to showcase rural river experiences.
• Preserve the rural and bush character of the river and its landscape through collaboration and careful management of future development.

Goodness flows from the top down. Careful and innovative management of our Yarra River, Birrarung and its neighbouring lands ensures the natural replenishment of local billabongs and wetlands and supports a continuous envelope of spectacular indigenous vegetation.

Our Yarra River, Birrarung supports employment and the social and economic wellbeing of local communities. Those communities and their landholders provide a valuable connection with the natural environment and the water.

The potential of our reach’s biodiversity is fostered and enhanced by our enthusiastic local custodians, supporting the environmental health of the entire Yarra River, Birrarung.

The river is surrounded by a majestic natural landscape that embraces mountains, thriving forests and an abundance of wildlife.

The area is supported by townships with strong generational family connections to the river and its surrounding lands.

Farming and tourism industries, which rely on the river and its surrounding landscape, support employment and are major contributors to the local and regional economy.

The natural beauty of the river is managed through a heightened focus on flood and fire risk for local communities.

Numerous places along the river are of high cultural significance for the Wurundjeri people, such as the Coranderrk Station.

• Promote and celebrate local cultural heritage through collaboration and community education.
• Develop new opportunities around local tourism, including river-based learning.
• Celebrate and promote opportunities for people to immerse themselves in the unique landscape, local wildlife and incredible biodiversity.
• Provide an expanded river access network for recreation and social connection.
• Foster healthy local ecosystems for the river, its wetlands and billabongs, which are recharged through environmental flows.
• Work with local farming communities to ensure sustainable water use.
• Celebrate personal connections to the river.