welcome to the Mt Oak Community website
Mt Oak is 1140 hectares of granite outcropping mountains of Drooping Sheoak and Black Cypress Pine, Apple Box grassy woodland and Monaro temperate grasslands, on the Murrumbidgee River and the Murrumbucca Creek
In 2010, over 80% of the land came under a Voluntary Conservation Agreement
Mt Oak is on Ngarigo country at Billilingra, near Bredbo on the western edge of the Monaro Plains of Southern New South Wales
Mt Oak was established at the 2nd ConFest in 1977 as a new type of collective community challenging the very notion of land ownership, and as a proving ground for pioneering dry-land self-sufficiency techniques such as permaculture, alternative energy and the keyline system
The 10 year anniversary ConFest was also held at Mt Oak
After more than 30 years, though the Mt Oak Community Association members (old and new) may live elsewhere, the original ecological, ownership and concensus principles still apply to the land, while the restoration and stewardship of the rare and threatened ecosystems and species has become the primary focus for today's community association and friends
To help us, go to the donate page
natural systems
The elevation ranges from 700 metres at the Murrumbidgee river & Murrumbucca creek confluence to over 1000 metres on Big Mountain and Mt Sheoke itself
Mt Oak is home to at least 250 indigenous plant species, including the smallest flowering plant in the world and many kinds of mammals and lizards as well as prolific bird and invertebrate life
Many of the species that Mt Oak supports are listed as vulnerable, rare or threatened, such as the silky swainson pea, the hooded robin and the Rosenberg's monitor
There is an as yet undescribed eucalypt species that may be confined to Mt Oak and other possibly unique flora. There are a number of discrete vegetation types at different elevations and aspects
Environmental weeds and feral animals are the key manageable threatening processes acting on the landscape and ecological values
Mt Oak is home to at least 250 indigenous plant species, including the smallest flowering plant in the world and many kinds of mammals and lizards as well as prolific bird and invertebrate life
Many of the species that Mt Oak supports are listed as vulnerable, rare or threatened, such as the silky swainson pea, the hooded robin and the Rosenberg's monitor
There is an as yet undescribed eucalypt species that may be confined to Mt Oak and other possibly unique flora. There are a number of discrete vegetation types at different elevations and aspects
Environmental weeds and feral animals are the key manageable threatening processes acting on the landscape and ecological values
land tenure
The land was sheep and rabbit degraded when collectively purchased after the first ConFest in 1976 at Cotter River in the ACT and was the site of the 1977/78 and 1987/88 ConFest gatherings
The title is now held in trust by the Free Land Association Inc., also known as the Nyargun Trust, and the land is managed for biodiversity outcomes by the Mt Oak Community Association Inc.
MOCA and the FLA have signed a Voluntary Conservation Agreement with the NSW Minster for Climate Change and Environment, covenanting a majority portion of the property, 895 hectares
The Free Land Association has Ngarigo elder representation and Mt Oak recognises traditional ownership rights to the land
Mt Oak keeps to the original principle that anybody may live on the land providing they respect the collective, ecological and constitutional agreements
