Meet Waulinbakh: The Wildlife Sanctuary Freshwater Farm Is Now Helping Protect
Long before Freshwater Farm existed, Al's family ran their own farm — and his father always made time to protect the native wildlife on it, especially the large variety of birds that called the property home. That instinct never left the family. Today, Al carries on the same tradition here at Freshwater Farm, where regenerative farming practices sit alongside a deliberate decision to manage 30 acres for carbon sequestration and as a haven for native plants and animals to thrive. An area where it is common to see fauna like native owls, bandicoots, brown antechinus and king quail, among others.
Read more about our approach to regenerative farming
It's this same belief — that supporting biodiversity is always worth doing — that led us to partner with Australian Wildlife Conservancy, Australia's largest private owner and manager of land for conservation, to help protect native species and the habitats they depend on.
My father was a great admirer of Dr John Wamsley, whose general philosophy was to protect endangered marsupials by fencing an area worth preserving, removing feral predators like cats and foxes and then reintroducing endangered fauna, previously present, back to the area. Australian Wildlife Conservancy’s founder Martin Copley was also inspired by Dr Wamsley and Australian Wildlife Conservancy’s rigorous science and pragmatic approach have furthered these concepts and their delivery to a grand scale.
About Australian Wildlife Conservancy
Wildlife Conservancy has been restoring Australian wildlife and habitats at scale, backed by science, innovation and boots-on-the-ground conservation. Today, Australian Wildlife Conservancy directly owns, manages or works in partnership across more than 6.8 million hectares of land. Its work protects landscapes that support a significant proportion of Australia’s threatened terrestrial species, as well as 88% of our continental bird species and 74% of our mammal species.
Learn more about the Australian Wildlife Conservancy
Our partnership: Waulinbakh Wildlife Sanctuary
Our partnership directly sponsors AWC's Waulinbakh (pronounced Wallum-bark) Wildlife Sanctuary, located near Stroud on the NSW Mid North Coast — less than an hour's drive from our farm in Mayers Flat. For Al, supporting a sanctuary this close to home was an easy decision: protecting native species right on our doorstep is exactly the kind of biodiversity work he believes is always worth backing.
Waulinbakh safeguards nearly 4,000 hectares of tall eucalypt forest and rainforest gullies, home to over 170 native species, including more than 10 threatened mammals, birds, reptiles and frogs. Among the wildlife calling Waulinbakh home are Greater and Yellow-bellied Gliders, Koalas, Parma Wallabies and Glossy Black-Cockatoos — many found nowhere else in such numbers. On the ground, AWC's conservation work at Waulinbakh includes strategic fire management, feral predator control and habitat restoration, all guided by ongoing scientific monitoring.
Learn more about Waulinbakh Wildlife Sanctuary
Close to our heart
As Al puts it:
Freshwater Farm partnering with Australian Wildlife Conservancy is an opportunity for the company to make a difference. Freshwater Farm is proud that this partnership gives us the opportunity to continue the family ethos of giving back, this time not just to the community but to future generations. That they too get the chance to observe the unique native wildlife that have become endangered on our watch.
Tim Allard, Australian Wildlife Conservancy CEO
“Partnerships like this demonstrate how businesses and their customers can contribute to wildlife conservation through everyday choices. By connecting people, products and practical conservation action, we can deliver lasting outcomes for threatened species and the habitats they depend on.”
Protecting the places we call home is part of what it means to be a natural brand, and we're proud to help safeguard this corner of the Mid North Coast for generations to come.
