At Southern Highlands Wildlife Sanctuary (SHWS), we know that protecting wildlife doesn’t just happen in the bush. It starts in the classroom, in the community, and in the hands of the people who will inherit the responsibility of caring for Australia’s unique species.
“We cannot protect something we do not love; we cannot love what we do not know, and we cannot know what we do not see.” – Richard Louv
That’s why we’re building the SHWS Education Centre; a purpose-built hub for learning, training, and community connection right in the heart of Bundanoon.
Photo: Grant White SHWS Projects, Peter Lewis SHWS Director, Petrea King Founder Quest for Life, John Creighton SHWS Animal Welfare & Neil Gripper General Manager Quest for Life
A Community-Backed Project
This project wouldn’t be possible without the extraordinary generosity of our partners. Petrea King and the Quest for Life Foundation have supported us with land for the centre, ensuring it has a home in Bundanoon.
The [SHWS] Education Centre reflects our shared commitment to healing, learning, and living in harmony with the natural world. By supporting this project, Quest for Life is helping create a space where community, culture, and Country come together. It’s a place for people of all ages to deepen their understanding of the land we live on and the wildlife we treasure. – Petrea King Founder Quest for Life
Studio Era, a local architectural practice, is donating design and development services, while Clarke Kann Lawyers are providing legal expertise and Kelly & Partners in Bowral are supporting with accounting.
Together, they’re helping turn vision into reality.
What the Centre Will Deliver
The Education Centre will be a hands-on hub for schools, volunteers, and the community. Programs will include curriculum-linked classes for students, outdoor ecology workshops, volunteer training in wildlife rescue, and community events on conservation and biodiversity. The centre will also host citizen science activities, linking everyday observations with formal conservation research.
It will be more than a building.
It will be a living space for connection, where people can learn why wombats matter to ecosystems, how koalas can return to healthy bushland, and what practical steps can protect local biodiversity.
Why It Matters
Koalas could be locally extinct in New South Wales by 2050 if habitat loss continues unchecked. That’s not speculation; it’s the conclusion of a 2020 NSW parliamentary inquiry into koala populations and habitat.
Biodiversity overall is under strain. The NSW Biodiversity Outlook Report 2024 highlights that only half of all threatened species are expected to survive the next 100 years, with habitat loss identified as the leading pressure.
In the Southern Highlands, the situation is equally concerning. The region includes seven Threatened Ecological Communities (TECs) under NSW law, placing ecosystems under considerable threat from development, fragmentation, and climate pressures.
Across the country, 159 marsupial species, approximately 40 percent are now considered threatened.
These declines matter because marsupials aren’t just familiar faces who are unique to our lands and the environment; they’re ecosystem engineers. Wombats aerate soil with their burrows, gliders spread pollen for native plants, and kangaroos help manage vegetation. Protecting them protects the land they depend on.
Awareness alone can’t fix it.
Education must lead to action, and regional Australia needs on-the-ground conservation learning. That’s where SHWS is stepping up.
A Call to Action
Our goal is to inspire change through education. But we can’t do it alone.
To complete the DA process and build the Education Centre, we need financial support.
Every contribution helps us get closer to opening the doors of this vital facility and shaping the next generation of conservation leaders.
Want to help?
Donations can be made through the website and will directly fund the development of the centre and its programs.
Together, we can create a home for learning, action, and lasting change.
