A majestic tract of land in far north Queensland that links wet tropics world heritage rainforest and contains headwaters that flow to the Great Barrier Reef could be bought and protected by Christmas, after a conservation group raised more than $19m in private donations to buy the cattle station.
uncertain
group → link → station
Wooroora spans more than 20,000 hectares of largely intact wet sclerophyll forest and savanna woodland on the lands of the Jirrbal people about 100km south-west of Cairns – and borders Bush Heritage’s existing 43,575-hectare Yourka Reserve in one of the most biodiverse regions in Australia.
asserted
Wooroora → span → Australia
Cassowary and tree-kangaroos are among at least 12 threatened species and more than 30 species of conservation significance that have already been recorded on Wooroora, which is also the northernmost refuge for koalas and, according to the would-be owners, is almost certainly home to species yet unknown to science.
uncertain
which → record → science
In 2024 a plan to clear more than 500ha of Wooroora station for a 42-turbine windfarm was rejected because of what then environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, described as the unacceptable impact on the environment, including the spectacled flying-fox and the northern greater glider.
asserted
minister → clear → fox
The chief executive of Bush Heritage, Rachel Lowry, said Wooroora would be the organisation’s most ambitious single acquisition in its 35-year history to date.
asserted
Wooroora → say → date
“This breaks the glass ceiling,” Lowry said.
asserted
Lowry → break → ceiling
“And I don’t think it’s just for Bush Heritage, but for our sector more broadly.”
asserted
it → think → sector
Lowry said fundraising for the $24.7m to buy and manage the land for an initial five years has been going on for more than 18 months.
asserted
fundraising → say → months
She travelled to New York during the 2025 UN climate summit to make a presentation that helped result in a donation of almost $2.5m from the foundation associated with the US outdoor clothing company Patagonia.
asserted
that → travel → company
Given the country is a global biodiversity hotspot, Lowry said the protection “forever” of Wooroora was “not just a gift for Australia”.
asserted
protection → give → Australia
“When we step in and we protect and manage country, like Wooroora, we’re leaving a legacy worldwide,” she said.
asserted
she → step → legacy
An anonymous Australian philanthropist also donated $6m.
asserted
philanthropist → donate → 6
Now Bush Heritage is appealing to the public to raise the final $5.3m it needs by the deadline of 24 December.
asserted
it → appeal → December
Jirrbal senior elder, Uncle Kurt Noble, said the land purchase would allow traditional owners back on “proper Jirrbal land”.
asserted
purchase → say → land
“There are a lot of stories within the family connected to this country,” he said.
asserted
he → be → country
In a recorded interview from Wooroora provided by Bush Heritage, Noble said his great-grandmother was born on the station but that he had not previously had the opportunity to visit.
“Much of our land is under private ownership, you know, and to have access, to be able to come back and forward, has been very restricted over many years – over generations,” he said.
asserted
he → record → generations
Renewed access would not only enable care and restoration for the environment, he said, but also for “the cultural values of our land”.
asserted
he → renew → land
Noble said it would allow: “our young people to grow up with a better understanding, not only of country, but of language, of song, of our cultural practices, of our different significant sites all over this country”.
asserted
people → say → country
Traditional custodian and Wabubadda Aboriginal Corporation chair, Liam Roberts, said in another recorded video that Jirrbal were hoping to jointly manage the reserve.
“
asserted
Jirrbal → say → reserve
We’ve got rangers.
asserted
We → get → rangers
We’ve got work we’d like to do on country,” he said.
asserted
he → get → country
Roberts said the station contained “sacred artefacts” along old Jirrbal trails and creeks.
asserted
station → say → trails
“It’s beautiful camping country, it’s beautiful fishing country, it’s beautiful ecology,” he said.
asserted
he → ’ → ?
“In the old days the pathways were very much running from the dry country to the wet country, seasonally, and this is a key part of country that we can’t find anywhere else.”
Bush Heritage’s head of Queensland and the Northern Territory, Dr Jo Axford, said Wooroora includes one of the region’s largest unprotected stretches of wet sclerophyll forest – towering eucalyptus grandis that forms a transition zone between ancient wet tropics rainforest and seasonally dry savannah woodlands.
asserted
that → run → rainforest
From its neighbouring reserve at Yourka, Bush Heritage had been actively seeking to acquire the station since 2010 because it provides the “missing piece” in a 429,000-hectare nature corridor that runs up to Cape York.
asserted
that → neighbour → York
“The amazing thing about Wooroora is that it’s this long, narrow property – if you look at a map, Wooroora itself is almost like a key,” Axford said.
asserted
Axford → ’ → key
Wooroora rises to about 1,000m above sea level, but falls to 660m in 10km, which Axford said creates a diverse mosaic of habitat that will allow threatened species such as the critically endangered magnificent brood frog to find refuges and hopefully adapt to a changing climate.
asserted
species → rise → climate
This “really unusual” topography makes Wooroora one of the only places on Earth home to both the rainforest dwelling southern cassowary and the plains roaming emu, where Lumholtz’s tree-kangaroo clamber through canopies near koalas, she said.
asserted
she → make → koalas
But Axford said she is confident the station also harboured undescribed species.
asserted
station → say → species
“Nobody’s looked at the invertebrates, nobody has gone into all those gullies and valleys, these huge rhyolite outcrops,” she said.
asserted
she → look → gullies
“I’ve had the advantage of being able to fly over it in a chopper – and you just know there must be so many hidden secrets in there”.
asserted
you → have → chopper
The Aporia
