Conservationists buy key NSW wetlands SCIENTISTS will descend on a former cattle property turned conservation reserve in outback NSW to conduct a "bio-blitz" survey of the region's diverse waterbirds. The new reserve at Naree Station in far northwest NSW is one most important wetlands regions in the Murray Darling Basin, and home to up to 8000 breeding pairs of waterbirds. The 14,400-hectare property, located 153 km northwest of Bourke, was bought by Bush Heritage Australia in late 2012 to establish a conservation area in the floodplain. A team of 30 scientists and volunteers will spend 10 days at Naree Station mapping the various species in the reserve, including birds, fish, small mammals, bats and reptiles. In particular, researchers will be seeking out a small carnivorous mammal called the kultarr, that is endangered in NSW. Scientists will use spotlights at night to search for kultarrs, and canoes during the day to survey waterbirds in significant roosting sites. Naree Station is also home to vulnerable and threatened species such as the Brolga and Major Mitchells Cockatoo. The purchase of the station is considered an important step in the protection of Australia's inland wetlands ecosystems as it establishes a conservation area in the under-represented Mulga Lands bioregion. Scientists say the wetlands are as significant as Kakadu and 80 Mile Beach, and should be protected under federal environmental law. Apart from wildlife species, Naree contains a range of high conservation value habitat such as Coolabah wetlands, Lignum swamps, Black Box swamps and Acacia shrublands. The floodplains are at risk from excessive upstream irrigation, a problem the federal government has tried to address in the landmark Murray-Darling Basin plan.