Richard Underwood Nature Refuge

The Nature Refuge  

Richard Underwood Nature Refuge is a 130-hectare conservation area on Yarran Downs Station in southern Queensland, on Mandandanji Country. It was gazetted in 2008 after an extensive search for suitable wombat habitat, and AWC took on the lease in October 2023 through an agreement with the Queensland Department of Environment and Science and landowners Ed and Gabrielle Underwood. Deep, red, sandy soil adjacent to the Balonne River supports tall open woodlands and grasslands. Eucalypts including silver-leaved ironbark and poplar box are interspersed with stands of white cypress pine and belah. Diverse grasses make up the ground layer vegetation, including mulga mitchell grass and feathertop wiregrass. The refuge is entirely surrounded by a fence which excludes feral predators. 

Wildlife 

The Richard Underwood Nature Refuge is one of only two sites with a population of the critically endangered Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat. Translocations of Northern Hairy-nosed Wombats into the refuge started in 2009, and there are now around 15 individuals in the population. The refuge is also home to a diversity of other wildlife, including at least 15 other species of native mammals, 12 species of amphibians, 31 species of reptiles, and at least 83 species of birds.