Passel Estate’s Conservation featured in Australian Geographic Magazine

Passel Estate is proud to feature in Australian Geographic’s in-depth article in the January/February 2023 edition, about conservation and sustainability in the Margaret River region.

Living the Good Life by Fleur Bainger covers a range of different conservation initiatives being carried out by tourism operators and other enterprises in the Shire of Augusta Margaret River, which is the first certified ECO destination in Western Australia.

It covers the background of how Passel Estate’s possum conservation work began in 2011, when owners, Wendy and Barry, were asked to provide refuge to a group (passel) of critically endangered Western Ringtail Possums who were displaced after their habitat was destroyed by a devastating local bushfire.

“One of [the region’s] endemic species, the critically endangered western ringtail possum keeps Wendy and Barry Stimpson up at night.  The couple who unplugged form hectic lawyer lives in Hong Kong and London to relocate to the calm of Margaret River, often find themselves checking the feed from night cameras installed on their property. There’s a thrill with each sighting of the furry locals – it’s estimated as few as 8000 mature creatures remain.”

“The pair bought their vineyard in 2011, chasing childhood dreams of nature conservation and species protection.”

“They’ve since installed soft-release enclosures to protect possums as they reintegrate into the wild, and planted native tree species such as WA golden wattle, to which the possums are particularly partial.”

“They’ve also preserved a 50m-wide nature corridor linking dense, undisturbed tracts of bush where possums can travel without needing to descend from the canopy’s safety.”

“They even named the property after the collective noun for possums: a passel.”

“At Passel Estate they now lead visitors along a nature and wine walk through possum habitat, with more than a third of the ticket price directed to conservation.”

Read the full article here: Australian-Geographic-article-Jan-2023.