Wildlife Land Trust / Sanctuaries / NSW / Redantha

Alison Elvin and Owen Whitaker are the owners of Redantha, a property located near Gundaroo, NSW. Alison and Owen manage the property for biodiversity conservation, wildlife protection and enhancement, and sustainable seed harvesting. Redantha is protected by an agreement with the Mallee CMA, and Alison and Owen have undertaken extensive revegetation activities to regenerate the property following extensive clearing. Having hand-planted over 5000 native trees and shrubs, and direct-seeding tens of thousands across the property, regeneration of all native species is now widespread and extensive.

Redantha is a hilly block of land covering 150 hectares, intersected by a permanent creek. The dominant vegetation type is  Dry Sclerophyll Grassy Woodland, with species including brittle gum (Eucalyptus mannifera), scribbly gum (E. haemastoma), red box (E. polyanthemos) and red stringybarks (E. macrorhyncha). Native grasses such as kangaroo grass (Themeda triandra) and red-anthered wallaby grass (Joycea pallida) dominate the understorey. Older trees remain across the property providing numerous nesting hollows, and a substantial litter layer of fallen logs and scatters of large rocks provides further critical habitat for wildlife.

The property provides habitat for a diversity of species including short-beaked echidnas (Tachyglossus aculeatus), eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus), red-necked (Macropus rufogriseus) and swamp (Wallabia bicolor) wallabies, antechinuses (Antechinus spp.), dunnarts (Sminthopsis spp.), ringtail (Pseudocheirus peregrinus) and brushtail (Trichosurus vulpecula) possums, common wallaroos (Macropus robustus) and bare-nosed wombats (Vombatus ursinus). Reptiles such as red-bellied black snakes (Pseudechis porphyriacus), eastern brown snakes (Pseudonaja textilis), lace monitors (Varanus varius) and numerous lizard species are present, as are many amphibian species.

An abundance of birds are also found on the property including black cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus spp.), galahs (Eolophus roseicapilla), eastern (Platycercus eximus) and crimson (Platycercus elegans) rosellas, wedge-tailed eagles (Aquila audax), various raptors, barn owls (Tyto alba), tawny frogmouths (Podargus strigoides), powerful owls (Ninox strenua), magpies (Cracticus tibicen), crows (Corvus orru), pied currawongs (Strepera graculina), numerous small woodland and grassland species, and many species of honey eaters and thornbills.