Secure the Land. Protect the Future.
Help Us Secure and Restore Conservation Land
Why Securing Land Matters
To protect wildlife for generations, we must protect the land they depend on. That’s why one of the most critical goals of the Southern Highlands Wildlife Sanctuary is securing permanent conservation land, a home for rescue, rehabilitation, research, and education.
The Southern Highlands was once rich with koalas, wombats, gliders, and other native species. But habitat loss, fire, fragmentation, and development pressures have pushed many populations to the brink. In Morton National Park alone, koala numbers have collapsed from millions to only a handful of survivors.
Establishing a long-term sanctuary site is the foundation for everything we do.
Your support helps us:
- Acquire suitable habitat to expand rescue and rehabilitation facilities
- Restore and revegetate wildlife corridors linking populations across the Highlands
- Protect land from development and safeguard it for conservation purposes
- Create dedicated spaces for research, education and community engagement
- Build the infrastructure needed to support volunteers, scientists, and wildlife carers
Securing land today ensures that wildlife — and the community — have a place to grow, learn and thrive tomorrow.
This is more than a purchase.
It’s an investment in the future of the Southern Highlands ecosystem.
Ways to Support
Our biggest challenge yet: securing $4 million to purchase Spring Hill Homestead and the adjoining land corridor leading into Morton National Park. This property will become our Research Centre of Excellence, a permanent home for wildlife rehabilitation and field science in the Highlands.
Owning this land will allow us to expand our rescue work, protect critical habitat, and host research partnerships that shape real conservation outcomes. It will also give us a foundation to grow programs that unite people, science, and wildlife recovery.
For Corporate Partnership and large donations contact: Peter Lewis
Donate
We have until early 2026 to raise the funds. It’s a big goal, but we’ve never shied away from a challenge; not when the future of our wildlife depends on it. Your donation directly supports land acquisition, habitat restoration and essential infrastructure development for the sanctuary’s future home.
Volunteer
Volunteers help with reforestation, corridor planting, land maintenance, fencing, weed removal, mapping and community working bees.
Your hands-on support helps return these landscapes to thriving, living ecosystems.
Become a Member
Membership supports ongoing land management and conservation work. Members receive updates, invitations to on-site gatherings, and insight into sanctuary planning and progress. Together, we’re creating a protected home for wildlife, built by the community, for the community.
Donor Recognition and Legacy
Major donors to the Research Centre campaign will be recognised through:
- Naming opportunities for the Research Centre, laboratories and field enclosures
- Lifetime Founding Patron status and recognition on the Sanctuary Honour Board
- Exclusive invitations to site tours, openings and scientific briefings
- Inclusion in our Foundation Circle, a private donor group shaping the future of wildlife restoration in Australia.
Why This Funding is Urgent
- The Research Centre site at Spring Hill is uniquely placed and time-sensitive.
- A purchase commitment is required to secure the land and option for the remaining acreage.
- The window to buy the 3.5-acre site and the Spring Hill Homestead closes in March 2026.
- Achieving this milestone places us in a strong negotiating position for the full expansion by 2027.
- Failure to complete this step risks losing both the opportunity and the location — delaying the Sanctuary’s long-term strategy by many years.
