A stretch of red desert twice the size of Brisbane just became one of the best-protected private properties in Australia — and mining companies are out for good.

  • 229,000 hectares now carrying national-park-level protection
  • 3rd Special Wildlife Reserve ever declared in Queensland
  • 470 km south of Mount Isa, on Wangkamahdla Country
  • 17 animal species and 5 plant species found predominantly within the reserve

Twice the size of Brisbane

Pilungah Reserve, in far western Queensland near the Northern Territory border, has been declared the state's third Special Wildlife Reserve — a status unique to Queensland legislation that grants privately owned land the same statutory protection as a national park. Bush Heritage Australia, which has owned and managed the reserve since 2005, says the declaration permanently rules out mining, logging and grazing across the entire property.

"We're so intertwined with our culture and those particular areas," said Avelina Tarrago, a Wangkamahdla woman and director of the Mulligan River Aboriginal Corporation, which manages the land on behalf of the Wangkamahdla people.

"So, any harm that would come to it would be taken very personally."

Mining permits cancelled

The reserve had previously attracted serious mining interest. In 2023, two active exploration permits covered rare earth minerals including lithium and copper, plus authority to prospect for petroleum. A restricted area was established that year to halt mining activity while the reserve application moved through Queensland's approval process, according to the ABC News report on the decision.

Environment Minister Andrew Powell confirmed all mining permits covering the site have now been cancelled. Tarrago said the protection is especially significant for the site's rock art, pointing to petroglyphs elsewhere in Australia that have visibly degraded near active mining operations. "It's a relief that the petroglyphs on our country are now protected," she said.

A home found nowhere else

Pilungah's ecological value matches its cultural significance. Bush Heritage's national covenant lead, Felicity Shapland, said the reserve is the only known location of the fat-tailed pseudantechinus, a tiny marsupial that lives among its rocky outcrops, and that 17 animal species and five plant species are predominantly found within its boundaries.

"It's truly a phenomenal place, and really of very high importance in terms of conservation," Shapland said, adding that some of the areas covered by former mining permits were "critical habitat for the ecosystems" as well as significant cultural sites.

Pilungah joins Pullen Pullen Reserve (protected in 2020) and Edgbaston Reserve (protected in 2024) as Queensland's three Special Wildlife Reserves, all owned by Bush Heritage Australia. A fourth application, covering the neighboring Ethabuka Reserve further south, is already working its way through the same process — meaning this corner of the outback may soon gain even more permanent protection.