Wildlife Land Trust / Sanctuaries / NSW / Bridgewater

Ian Brothers and Sonia Groen are the owners of Bridgewater, a rural property located approximately 45km southwest of Cowra. The property has been a dedicated wildlife sanctuary for over 18 years and is reserved almost entirely for nature conservation, aside from a small residence area where Ian and Sonia grow vegetables, fruits and nuts for their own consumption. It is Ian and Sonia’s intent to protect Bridgewater in perpetuity with a Conservation Agreement.

The sanctuary covers 119.6 hectares in the granite Warraderry Range, of which approximately 50% is grassland (gradually being naturally reforested) with the remainder open forest.  The land is sloping to sleep with sandy soil and a typical annual rainfall of 600mm. Various eucalypts, native pines, casuarinas and acacias, alongside a rich range of understory and grassland species, are the dominant vegetation types.

Known wildlife inhabitants on the sanctuary are numerous, with notable mentions including short-beaked echidnas (Tachyglossus aculeatus), red-necked (Macropus rufogriseus) and swamp (Wallabia bicolor) wallabies, eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus), brushtail (Trichosurus vulpecula) and ringtail  (Pseudocheirus peregrinus) possums,  as well as a wide range of reptiles, birds, amphibians and invertebrates.