NATURAL OUTBACK
Benevolent land barons
The Australian Wildlife Conservancy is fast becoming one of the nation's substantial private landholders, but, as the name suggests, the organisation is not using its land for farming.
By Peter Austin
Approaching the entrance to "Scotia", the vast mallee wilderness sanctuary fronting the South Australian border in far south-west NSW, the motorist is immediately aware this is not just another national park by another name. Instead of the entry ramp, directional maps and flimsy wire fencing (if any fence at all) that would distinguish a national park in this region, the visitor to Scotia is confronted by a formidable steel barrier suggestive of a maximum-security prison.
As it happens, the high mesh fencing at Scotia is designed, not to keep
antisocial humans in, but to keep unwanted feral animals out, so that the
vulnerable and unique fauna enclosed within can survive and - ideally - breed
up unmolested. This is the core aim of Scotia's newest owner, Australian
Wildlife Conservancy, a charitable institution with a difference founded
two years ago to develop the ideals of Perth businessman and latter-day environmental
visionary, Martin Copley. 
Full story Issue 33 Feb/Mar 2003
