We aim to bring sustainability and balance to Bullo River Station, one of Australia's most storied cattle stations. Never taking too much or working the land too hard, we are committed to ensuring its rich treasure trove of nature is here for generations to come.
As the current stewards of this remarkable land, a sense of curiosity and inquiry is what drives our approach. Our three enduring core priorities are:
Conservation: An intact, biodiverse ecology within a low-impact tourism operation.
Regeneration: A working, profitable cattle station within a healthy and thriving landscape.
Culture and Experience: An immersive and life-changing experience bringing food, land, and culture together.
WHERE CATTLE FARMING AND ECOLOGICAL ENRICHMENT ARE ENTWINED
HISTORIC AUSTRALIAN WILDLIFE CONSERVANCY PARTNERSHIP
Bullo River Station is home to a ground-breaking collaboration with one of Australia’s most experienced conservation organisations – the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC). It all started with the owners’ belief that cattle grazing and conservation could (and in fact, should) co-exist.
Owners of Bullo River Station, Alexandra and Julian Burt have admired and supported the work of the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) for many years. AWC’s pragmatic approach to land management and conservation is very much in line with the land-use philosophy of Bullo. Launched in 2018, AWC and Bullo formed a pioneering wildlife conservation partnership, the first of its kind in Australia, that allows conservation and pastoralism to work hand-in-hand.
AWC’s work at Bullo largely focuses on scientific monitoring and habitat restoration, with a particular focus on managing fire, feral animals and weeds. Over the last four years, AWC’s conservation land managers have worked closely with the Bullo River Station team to destock certain parts of the property and restore wetlands. This involves mustering feral cattle out of the remote parts of the property, setting up block fences to prevent future feral animal incursion, and introducing a prescribed burning program.
These intensive efforts are paying off, with healthier spring systems and increased diversity of vegetation ages which are critical for the persistence of small-medium mammals in the savanna.
In more firsts, in their time at Bullo AWC made the first NT captures of the carnivorous marsupial the False Antechinus and a rare species called the Scaly-tailed Possum. The team has also encountered a range of grass finches including the endangered Gouldian Finch, Star Finch, and Masked Finch.
Since 2018, the Australian Wildlife Conservancy has been compiling an inventory of all vertebrate species confirmed to be present at Bullo River Station. Currently, a total of 47 mammals, 93 reptiles, 222 birds and 33 amphibians have been recorded.
As surveys proceed in subsequent years, this list will continue to grow. Our work with AWC has also supported a range of other external research projects in collaboration with various universities around Australia.
LEARN ABOUT THE PARTNERSHIP
OTHER MILESTONES
80% of our electricity requirements is provided by solar power (the remaining 20% comes from generators).
We are endeavouring for the Station to be mostly self-sufficient by 2024 by growing fruit and vegetables on the property to reduce waste by 60%.
We can capture 2.7 million litres of rainwater with recently installed tanks. The aspiration is to have six million litres capacity.
