Wildlife Land Trust / Sanctuaries / NSW / Shane and Deolinda’s Refuge

Deolinda Pereira and Shane Fewtrell are the owners of a property situated in Barkers Vale, approximately 20km northeast of Kyogle, New South Wales. The property is a home and wildlife-friendly sanctuary, and the owners plan to maintain the land for these purposes. Shane and Deolinda plan to implement a stronger weed management program for the land, alongside reforesting some cleared areas with koala food trees and other native plants. They are also interested in exploring stronger protections for the property in the future.

The property spans 10 hectares adjoining Hanging Rock Falls and close to the Border Ranges in Northern NSW. The land is set on a generally north-facing slope, grading from steep open eucalypt forests and subtropical rainforest gullies into gradually sloping Hoop pine (Araucaria cunninghamii) forests and riparian communities leading into Leycester Creek.

The property is mostly forested, with around 4-5 hectares of cleared land. Eucalypt woodland on the higher ground is dominated by pink bloodwood (Corymbia intermedia), northern grey ironbark (Eucalyptus siderophloia) and tallowwood (Eucalyptus microcorys). Invasive weed management is a priority action for the land, both to support koalas and to reduce the risk of dieback caused by bell miners in the region.

Wildlife is abundant on the property. Koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) regularly move between the block and other neighbouring properties, and platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) have been spotted in the creek on the property’s boundary. The land is also home to swamp wallabies (Wallabia bicolor), red-necked wallabies (Macropus rufogriseus), red-legged pademelons (Thylogale stigmatica), brushtail (Trichosurus vulpecula) and ringtail (Pseudocheirus peregrinus) possums, gliders and an array of birdlife. A wide range of reptiles are also present including lace monitors (Varanus varius), brown (Boiga irregularis) and green (Dendrolaphis punctulata) tree snakes and bandy-bandy snakes (Vermicella annulata).