A 584-hectare estuarine island reserve on the New South Wales mid-north coast, guarding heathland, swamps, and Aboriginal cultural sites within Wallis Lake.
Wallis Island Nature Reserve
Wallis Island Nature Reserve is a protected natural area covering most of Wallis Island, a forested and heath-covered island in Wallis Lake on the mid north coast of New South Wales, Australia. The reserve sits just south of where the Coolongolook River enters the lake, within a broad estuarine system that opens to the Tasman Sea near the twin towns of Forster and Tuncurry.
The island itself combines coastal heath, shrubland, swamp, and a permanent lagoon crossed by the Wallis Island Main Trail. It also carries a long human history: the Worimi people occupied the broader lake region for thousands of years, leaving shell middens and tool sites on the island, while 19th-century European settlement brought timber harvesting, fishing, and an eventual protected-area designation beginning in 1983.
Today the reserve is recognized as the largest in a group of eight natural reserves around Wallis Lake, expanded twice since its creation to reach 584 hectares. Although parts of the island remain in private use, including a fishing retreat and a small airfield, the nature reserve is the defining feature of the island's modern identity.
