Private conservation group spends $55m to protect Murray-Darling swamp

With neighbouring Yanga national park and government-owned Gayini-Nimmie Caira, more than 200,000 hectares are under protection

A record $55m has been spent by the Nature Conservancy to buy two cattle stations along the Murrumbidgee River near Balranald in New South Wales to preserve valuable wetlands, known as the Great Cumbung Swamp, that are a major breeding ground for birds.

The properties, which adjoin the NSW-government owned property, Gayini-Nimmie Caira and the Yanga national park, near Balranald, have been bought through a partnership with an agricultural investment company, Tiverton.