00:02This property in Australia's largest wine grape growing region was once filled with vineyards.
00:08But four years ago owners Tony and Cherie Townsend decided to rip up the vines
00:12with the goal of restoring the land back to native vegetation.
00:16We really sat down and looked at what the future was going to hold for us within the wine industry
00:23and we didn't really see a future.
00:26The couple says it's one of the best choices they've ever made.
00:29It was a lot of time and effort and wasn't a reason why we bought the property in the first
00:35place.
00:36The property has since become a haven for the endangered Regent Parrot
00:40which was once a booming species in the river land.
00:43Populations have continued to decline over the last 50 years due to habitat loss.
00:49It's something the Townsends and experts are doing their best to fix.
00:53They breed along the river, along the river corridor in the river red gums,
00:57but they forage in the Mallee so having that forage food available for them is really important.
01:02It's that food source their property is now providing while the birds are giving back in other ways.
01:08The native bushes, the flowers that they bring, the birds that they bring is just a really good for the
01:16soul.
01:17We don't get an income from it but we get an emotional return from it.
01:20Tony and Cherie hope their work will continue.
01:23I'd like to leave it better than what we found it.
