Wildlife Land Trust / Sanctuaries / NSW / Baamirra Sanctuary

Anne Elliott is the owner of Baamirra Sanctuary, a property situated in Leeton, approximately 130km northwest of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. The property is a residence and dedicated sanctuary for wildlife, and Anne intends to continue creating and restoring as much habitat as possible for native species by reintroducing indigenous plants, conserving remnant vegetation and supporting microhabitats with fallen logs and rocks. Anne also plans to use the sanctuary for educational purposes, establishing green energy and food sources and experimenting with new technology for weed management.

Baamirra Sanctuary spans 4.65 hectares and features remnants of open blackbox woodland, with most areas in need of restoration. Previously a vineyard, the property also features a large dam. Anne intends to create a more biodiverse environment to support wildlife on the property as well as on the nearby UNESCO-listed Fivebough Wetland. She intends to install a pond for waterbirds and nestboxes on mature trees for microbats, possums and birds. She also plans to establish a native woody meadow on the front of the property, and rewild the rear of the property.

Along with remnant mature blackbox (Eucalyptus largiflorens), vegetation on the property includes kangaroo (Themeda triandra) and wallaby (Rytidosperma caespitosum) grass, umbrella grass (Chloris truncata), bush tomato (Solanum spp.) and native bluebell (Wahlenbergia stricta), as well as prostrate, climbing and conventional saltbush (Atriplex spp.). The owner intends to consult an expert for a full profile of vegetative species.

A wide range of native birds are present on Baamirra Sanctuary including superb (Malurus cyaneus) and variegated (Malurus lamberti) fairy-wrens, top-knot pigeons (Lopholaimus antarcticus), grass parrots (Psephotus haematonotus), Australian magpies (Gymnorhina tibicen), magpie-larks (Grallina cyanoleuca), straw-necked ibises (Threskiornis spinicollis), galahs (Eolophus roseicapilla), striped honeyeaters (Plectorhyncha lanceolata) and a range of wild ducks. Willie wagtails (Rhipidura leucophrys) are also common, and are the totem animal of the Wiradjuri Nation on which the property is located.