Bush Heritage says Wooroora donations pass A$19 million
The conservation group is seeking a further A$5.3 million by 24 December to buy the Queensland cattle station and fund five years of management.
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The conservation group is seeking a further A$5.3 million by 24 December to buy the Queensland cattle station and fund five years of management.
Conservation group Bush Heritage Australia says it has raised more than A$19 million in private donations toward buying Wooroora, a cattle station on Jirrbal land in far north Queensland. Chief executive Rachel Lowry told the Guardian that the A$24.7 million target covers the purchase and an initial five years of management. The purchase remains incomplete.
Wooroora covers more than 20,000 hectares about 100 kilometres south-west of Cairns and borders Bush Heritage’s Yourka Reserve. The group has sought to acquire it since 2010 as the missing link in a 429,000-hectare nature corridor running toward Cape York.
Lowry said fundraising had been under way for more than 18 months. She described Wooroora as the most ambitious single acquisition in Bush Heritage’s 35-year history. The donations include two substantial gifts:
| Donor | Contribution |
|---|---|
| Anonymous Australian philanthropist | A$6 million |
| Foundation associated with US outdoor clothing company Patagonia | Almost A$2.5 million |
Lowry said a presentation she gave in New York in 2025 helped secure the Patagonia-associated foundation’s contribution.
International fundraising continued in 2026. In an article published on 28 August, Australian Women in New York
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At least 12 threatened species have been recorded at Wooroora, including cassowaries and tree-kangaroos. The property is also the northernmost refuge for koalas and contains headwaters that flow toward the Great Barrier Reef.
Dr Jo Axford, Bush Heritage’s head of Queensland and the Northern Territory, said Wooroora contains one of the region’s largest unprotected stretches of wet sclerophyll forest—a tall eucalyptus forest between tropical rainforest and seasonally dry savanna woodland.
The land drops from about 1,000 metres above sea level to 660 metres over 10 kilometres. Axford said this range creates varied habitats where threatened species, including the critically endangered magnificent brood frog, could find refuges. She hopes those refuges will help wildlife adapt to climate change.
In 2024, a proposed 42-turbine windfarm requiring more than 500 hectares of clearing at Wooroora was rejected. Australia’s then environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, described its environmental impacts as unacceptable, including effects on spectacled flying-foxes and northern greater gliders.
Senior Jirrbal elder Kurt Noble said purchasing Wooroora would allow traditional owners back onto land where private ownership had restricted access over generations. Renewed access would support environmental and cultural restoration, he said, and help young people learn language, songs, cultural practices and significant sites.
Traditional custodian Liam Roberts, chair of Wabubadda Aboriginal Corporation, said the Jirrbal hoped to jointly manage the reserve and had rangers who wanted to work on the land. Joint management remains an aspiration rather than a completed agreement.
Bush Heritage says it protects its reserves through conservation covenants—legal restrictions attached to land. On properties it owns outright, these bind future owners permanently; on long-term Crown leases, they last for the lease. This is the group’s general protection policy, not a confirmed covenant for Wooroora.
Bush Heritage is appealing to the public for the remaining A$5.3 million by 24 December 2026 to complete its purchase-and-management fundraising target.
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