Motherumbah is a 1150 hectare property near Bingara. It sits within the Nandewah Bioregion on the northwest slopes of NSW. The main feature and biodiversity value of the property is its very large area of a nationally endangered regional ecosystem, Semi Evergreen Vine Thicket (SEVT). SEVT is a community dominated by what are normally rainforest plants at the absolute limit of their distribution due to dryness. 

In the case of Motherumbah, the persistence of these rainforest species appears to be due to the basalt soils on the ridge on which the property sits which both retain more moisture and provide higher levels of nutrients than much of the surrounding country.

Dr John Hunter has commented: "this is one of the largest intact stands of this community type (SEVT) on the North Western Slopes of NSW ......... This property contains an area of very important vegetation of such size it should be considered of National significance."

Another vegetative feature of the property is the large 40 hectare stand of Acacia cheelii commonly known as Motherumbah and after which the property is named.  This appears to represent the fire scar associated with a hot bushfire around forty years ago.

The combination of the dense SEVT understory and the open canopy of white pine, silver-leaved ironbark and white box provides habitat for a very wide range of woodland birds which have become increasingly threatened due to wide scale land clearing across much of their range.

Red-browed Finch photo by Garry Voysey

The wonderful bird photos for Motherumbah were all taken on the property by local photographer Garry Voysey.