Wildlife Land Trust / Sanctuaries / NSW / Paul and Sharyn’s Refuge

Paul Healy and Sharyn Fulton are the owners of a property situated in Karangi, approximately 10km west of Coffs Harbour, New South Wales. The property is a residence and dedicated wildlife sanctuary. Paul and Sharyn wish to maintain the land by clearing invasive weeds and supporting native vegetation in the property’s native forest. They also wish to provide habitat for koalas and other native species into the future.

The property spans 40 hectares, with 5 hectares used as a residence and the remainder comprised of remnant native forest. The owners are planning to clear invasive lantana, camphor laurel and other weeds found at the edges of the forest. Native vegetation is characterised as eucalypt woodland, with pockets of subtropical rainforest found in gullies.

A wide range of wildlife is present including koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus), spotted-tailed quolls (Dasyurus maculatus), grey-headed flying-foxes (Pteropus poliocephalus), swamp wallabies (Wallabia bicolor), Stephens’ banded snakes (Hoplocephalus stephensii), lace monitors (Varanus varius), brown (Boiga irregularis) and green (Dendrolaphis punctulata) tree snakes and a range of amphibians including giant barred frogs (Mixophyes iteratus).

Birdlife is abundant and includes glossy black-cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus lathami), powerful owls (Ninox strenua), sooty owls (Tyto tenebricosa), square-tailed kites (Lophoictinia isura), Wompoo (Ptilinopus magnificus) and rose-crowned (Ptilinopus regina) fruit doves, superb lyrebirds (Menura novaehollandiae), regent bowerbirds (Sericulus chrysocephalus) and satin bowerbirds (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus).