Wildlife Land Trust / Sanctuaries / NSW / Wolba

Haydn Washington is the owner of Wolba, a property located on Nullo Mountain near Rylstone, approximately 80km southeast of Mudgee. The property is surrounded on three sides by Wollemi National Park, which is part of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. The property is a dedicated wildlife sanctuary used as a residence and for ecological restoration, and Haydn occasionally agists cattle to reduce the fire risk caused by introduced Phalaris grasses. Haydn’s intentions for Wolba are completely conservation-related and he is slowly revegetating with provenance species.  Haydn is a plant ecologist and on the Advisory Committee of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area.

The sanctuary covers 32 hectares and is surrounded on three sides by the Wollemi National Park, which forms part of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area.  It features a basalt plateau and flora species such as silver-top stringybark (Eucalyptus laevopinea) and Eurabbie (E. bicostata), which are only found on high mountains in the area. Predominant vegetation types include brittle gum (E. praecox), manna gum (E. viminalis), yellow box (E. melliodora) and a drooping she-oak (Allocasuarina verticillata) community along a cliff edge.

Wildlife known to be present on Wolba includes red-necked wallabies (Macropus rufogriseus), eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus), swamp wallabies (Wallabia bicolor), bare-nosed wombats (Vombatus ursinus), gang-gang cockatoos (Callocephalon fimbriatum), glossy black cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus lathami) and lace monitors (Varanus varius).