Can you help restore this little piece of paradise ravaged by fire?

Discovered and collectively purchased in 1975 by a group of 24 architects, musicians and eco-warriors, Currawinya is a 2,600-hectare property – nestled at the junction of the Clarence and Cataract Rivers in northern NSW. The group formed a community and created Currawinya Pty Ltd as the landholding entity to own and manage Currawinya, the land.

Currawinya is surrounded on the west and south by the Cataract National Park and State Conservation Area. The NP was gazetted in 2006 and the combined area is over 4,000 hectares. Currawinya and the Cataract NP are noted as the vital link of the wildlife corridor across the Clarence River valley joining the Border Ranges NP to the Bald Rock NP and all National Parks to the west.

Currawinya is home to 194 invertebrate species and 30 mammal species. It protects 16 endangered and vulnerable species, including Spotted-tailed Quoll, Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby, Koala, Powerful Owl, Yellow-bellied Glider and Glossy-black Cockatoo.

Currawinya is unique – effectively a privately-owned nature reserve. In 1984 it was proclaimed as part of the Paddys Flat Wildlife Refuge under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 Sect 68. In 1998 Currawinya decided to end all cattle grazing to further assist the recovery of the native flora, fauna, and the land that sustains them.

For many decades Currawinya and surrounding areas were heavily logged and transitioned to cattle grazing. At the time the founder shareholders purchased the property in 1975, the damage was extensive. Large tracts had been ringbarked –‘wrung-out’. The resulting pastures and the steep terrain were never really suitable for beef production, and the enterprises were marginal. The rivers’ fragile riparian zones were decimated by cattle that were attracted to the more fertile river flats and water.

While the shareholding has changed over the past years 45 years, the group has remained focussed on protecting and improving this important natural environment. The forest regeneration has been remarkable. Native flora has been recovering. Wildlife biodiversity can be seen in the increased numbers of birds, marsupials, reptiles, insects, amphibians and many other animal and plant species.

However, since September 2017 the natural habitat on Currawinya has endured harsh drought. Then on 6th December last year the property was ravaged by the worst fire ever recorded. The damage is extensive, recovery requires considerable capital expenditure, energy and sheer endurance.

The main access wooden bridge was destroyed by the fire. Then a replacement road base/gravel/concrete pipe bridge quickly constructed in February was subsequently washed-out by an unexpected massive flood before we had time to complete it. Access to the property is now only a very dangerous muddy track.Like so many others during the horror of the firestorms that hit Australia, resident shareholders fled for their lives as the horrific fires took hold after the long drought. Several lost everything and at least one was injured. Eight lovingly hand-built homes were destroyed. And tragically, countless numbers of our precious recovering animal populations, forest habitat, trees and native plants were lost.

Because Currawinya Pty Ltd is simply a landholding entity to own and manage Currawinya, the land, we don’t have the resources to fund our recovery. So, we are reaching out to see if you can help through the GoFundMe program.

We are starting with four goals: 1. Replace the main access bridge into the property

over Yellow Creek with a fire-resistant, all-weather structure. These events have drained our limited resources. A new access bridge is critical to supporting the following two objectives:

2. Attend to the welfare of all wildlife found inCurrawinya due to the loss of habitat. This requires habitat restoration, such as nest boxes, addition of ground layer including logs, rocks etc, erosion control, supplementary food and ample water. Currawinya members and volunteers plan to do this in partnership with the National Parks and Wildlife Service and other organisations. This work will require inventory surveys and monitoring to locate surviving populations and track success of these interventions.

3. Regeneration of flora by tree planting, revegetationand chemical-free weed control to help reduce erosion resulting from the loss of topsoil binding grasses and shrubs.

4. Replace the 46 kilometres of fencing to theproperty to keep out feral cattle, pigs and deer to speed up the recovery of native flora and fauna.

The fund will be administered by the Directors of Currawinya and only applied to nominated tasks. Updates and progress reports will be published openly and regularly on the Currawinya website: www.currawinya.com.au

For your information: Currawinya Pty Ltd member shareholders have the right to reside on the property and vote at General Meetings. The Company’s Memorandum and Articles of Association state that no titles or sections of the property can be sold or exchanged without the unanimous agreement of shareholders. The result and intention is that while the shareholding may change over time, the property will be held in perpetuity by Currawinya Pty Ltd.