Peter Pigott has always hoped to leave Australia a better place than he found it.

Sitting in his home at the age of 89, surrounded by shelves of matching crockery, books and framed family photos, the toy store entrepreneur's face lights up when he describes fulfilling that dream.

"I've left Australia, when I die, a little fraction better than when I arrived," Mr Pigott told AAP at his Mount Wilson home, in the NSW Blue Mountains.

The businessman, conservationist and philanthropist has spent five decades and millions of his own funds maintaining a lush haven for the elusive parma wallaby.

About 200 of the small native creatures have been living safely from feral predators on his four-hectare bush property, drinking from dams he dug while protected by high fences he installed.

The sanct

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