Stephanie and Julian Lymburner are the owners of Crystal Hill, a property located in Coolgardie, approximately 10km Southwest of Ballina, New South Wales, which is the southern extremity of a corridor of vegetation from Uralba Nature Reserve and a recognised remnant of the former Big Scrub area. Three hectares of the sanctuary are covered by a Voluntary Conservation Agreement with the NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water, while the rest of the area is utilised for personal use. There is a comprehensive Plan of Management written for and implemented throughout the entire property. Stephanie and Julian are both qualified Bush Regenerators and have controlled (in some cases eradicated) all twelve weed species that were present on Crystal Hill fifteen years ago.
The sanctuary covers 8.7 hectares bisected by Randles Creek and features three waterfalls 5-10 metres in height. Approximately 230 native flora species occur on Crystal Hill, including the rough-shelled bush nut (Macadamia tetraphylla) and arrow-head vine (Tinospora tinosporoides). Several threatened flora species have been planted and are thriving within the VCA area.
Whilst no formal fauna studies have been conducted on the sanctuary, Stephanie and Julian have observed koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus), swamp wallabies (Wallabia bicolor), carpet pythons (Morelia spilota), grey-headed flying foxes (Pteropus poliocephalus), southern brown bandicoots (Isoodon obesulus), short-beaked echidnas (Tachyglossus aculeatus) and more than seventy bird species, including the wompoo fruit dove (Ptilinopus magnificus).
