A fundraising target of $505,000 has been exceeded to buy a former potato farm on Wilson Inlet’s eastern banks as a wildlife protection sanctuary.

Wilson Inlet Catchment Committee and other groups comprising the Eungedup Wetlands Management Group have raised $516,000 to buy 103ha with the sale to be settled at the end of the month.

WICC has partnered with Gondwana Link, Birdlife Australia, Conservation Council WA, The Wetlands Society, Denmark Bird Group and wildlife photographer Georgina Steytler to raise funds to buy what will be known as Eungedup Wetlands.

The property was not on the market but the Eungedup Wetlands Management Group approached the owner and a sale price of $505,000 was agreed on with 18 months to raise the funds.

The property is home to critically endangered Australasian bittern and western ringtail possums.

There are only 1500 Australasian Bittern, Botaurus poiciloptilus, left in the world and Eungedup may have up to 10 per cent of about 150 bittern remaining in WA.

The property owner gave the Eungendup Wetlands group access to the land while fundraising was underway, allowing monitoring, managing feral predators and mapping weeds for future eradication to begin.

The property has been used for many years to grow potatoes and was first cleared in the 1940s.

WICC executive officer Shaun Ossinger said the land was ideal for growing potatoes because it flooded every year creating a low-oxygen environment that killed insects and lessened the need for insecticides.

The $516,000 which has been raised to date has been through the WICC-managed Wilson Inlet Public Fund which is a tax deductible charity.

Mr Ossinger said the first $115,000 was raised mostly from donors from Denmark and Albany.

After approaching philanthropic organisations like the McCusker Trust Foundation a further $300,000 was donated, while an anonymous donor contributed $203,000.

“Several locals then got us across the line,” Mr Ossinger said.

Donors who have contributed $20,000 include Phil and Cath Wishart, Bob Boyes, Leanne Pech, Tom Hitchcock, and Chris and Georgina Steytler.

The building of a small-footprint wetlands centre is planned for a corner of the property for school students to learn about wetland ecology.

South Coast Natural Resource Management has pledged up to $50,000 from the South Coast Environment Fund to help towards construction of the wetland centre.

The property will be covenanted so it can never be cleared again.

This article appeared in the Denmark Bulletin, 15 June 2023.