Panton Hill Fungi Foray

Next date: Saturday, 20 June 2026 | 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM

Interested in learning more about Nillumbik’s amazing fungi? Learn to ID the mushrooms you see in our local parks or bushland. Or curious to know more about what is happening in the soil under your feet.

Join Melvin Xu, a local expert on fungi, for a presentation and fungi foray walk to Bunjil reserve.

In an always popular event, join other locals in learning how to identify fungi and upload your observations to citizen science platform iNaturalist, to help build an understanding of what occurs in our local area.

Melvin is a Naturalist specializing in Fungi and their interactions with the natural world. With over five years of experience, he volunteers and works throughout the conservation and environmental sectors from charities, non-for-profits, aspects of academia and local government. Primarily involved in activities that revolve around conservation, citizen science and education, his interests lie in the unseen world of fungi and how they fit throughout our surroundings. His particular interests include zombie fungi and orchid-fungi interactions. He continues to contribute to building volunteer groups and on ground conservation work. He’s recently helped run an annual Fungi Festival in Ballan to celebrate all things Fungi.

This event is suitable for all age ranges. But we will also have a youth fungi event in the winter school holidays.

Meet at Panton Hill Living and Learning Centre - 18 Bishops Road. Please note if there is a local football match on, allow some extra time for parking.

We will have a presentation for 45 minutes, followed by a walk in Bunjil Bushland reserve. We will follow made trails, but there are short steep sections. Please contact us beforehand for any accessibility questions.

Please wear warm clothing, close-toed shoes suitable for walking in the bush and wet weather gear.

Don't forget to bring a camera, phone with the iNaturalist app installed, notepad and all your fungi questions!

We are committed to creating an inclusive and accessible event environment for all attendees. If you have accessibility or inclusion requirements regarding this event, please contact us about how we can help at environment@nillumbik.vic.gov.au.