Ian Gorrie is the owner of Muru Guran, a property located approximately 50km south of Bundaberg. The property is a dedicated wildlife sanctuary and it is Ian’s intent for it to continue to be used for the benefit of the local environment. In 2012, the property was conserved in perpetuity by a legal covenant written on the title under the Vegetation Management Act 1999 (QLD) and it is also registered with Land for Wildlife.
Muru Guran covers 2.35 densely forested hectares with a small spring-fed creek. Vegetation is varied and includes rainforest, riparian habitat, wetlands and a wet and dry eucalypt forest.
The sanctuary is home to a wealth of birdlife, with the owner over many years identifying a total of 129 bird species so far, with the highest number of bird species identifed in just one week being 55. Wildlife known to inhabit Muru Guran includes three species of glider.
This sanctuary is featured in Wildlife Lands 18!
Muru Guran is a 2.35 hectare property located near Childers, about 45 kilometres by road from Bundaberg. In 2012, the property was permanently conserved by a conservation covenant written on the title under the Queensland Vegetation Management Act 1999. The covenant remains although amendments to the Act by the successive Queensland Government have somewhat reduced its legal significance.
My family have owned the land for 108 years, and I purchased it from my parents in 1976 to conserve remnant native vegetation, particularly big, old Queensland blue gums (Eucalyptus tereticornis). I’ve worked to reconstruct functioning plant communities using species native to this region since 1982. This includes a three-row shelterbelt created with the intention of being a wildlife corridor and providing safe passage to animals between my place and remnant bushland nearby.
Muru Guran has rainforest, eucalypt forest and a small creek and wetland and is now home to a range of plant communities and associated fauna. Over the years, I have identified a total of 129 bird species which depend on the sanctuary in various ways.
I joined the Wildlife Land Trust because the people and the organisation perform two valuable functions. Firstly, joining puts me in touch with conservation-minded people within a much bigger region than just the Childers area. Secondly, as I am nearly 80 years old I would like to sell the property to new owners. As I see it, the next owner(s) of Muru Guran won’t regard its conservation covenant as a constraint or obstacle. Instead I hope they find that owning this property gives them many opportunities to enjoy their own contribution to wildlife and habitat conservation. The need to have some areas of privately owned land that are set aside for long-term conservation of biological diversity is significant for me personally. Recent attempts to do so on private land through government legislation have not been particularly successful, and this highlights the very significant role of the Wildlife Land Trust.
