Arbon - Tooligie - Human Induced Regeneration

Arbon - Tooligie - Human Induced Regeneration is a Human-Induced Regeneration project located near the locality of Tooligie on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, approximately 84km north of the major city of Port Lincoln. It was registered in December 2013 and currently covers an area of 6,211.72 hectares.

Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) projects involve establishing permanent native forests by changing land management practices. This specific methodology requires the cessation of activities that actively suppress regrowth, such as the mechanical or chemical destruction of vegetation, or overgrazing. The standard requirement is to allow native trees to regenerate from in-situ seed sources, such as rootstock and lignotubers, to eventually achieve a minimum forest cover of 20% canopy cover and a height of 2 metres.

The Tooligie area is traditionally known for dryland agriculture, specifically sheep grazing and the cropping of cereals like wheat and barley. The region experiences a semi-arid, Mediterranean climate with an average annual rainfall of approximately 350 to 400mm. Soils in the area are typically shallow, highly calcareous sandy loams to clay loams over calcrete, alongside dune-swale landscapes featuring sandy soils over clay.

This project takes place on land that was originally cleared of vegetation and where regrowth was actively suppressed for at least 10 years prior to the project commencing. Over its lifetime, the project has undergone several variations, including additions and amendments to the project area as recently as December 2025, and a participant change from Andrew and Debra Arbon to Terra Carbon Pty Limited in September 2015. Interestingly, the Arbon-Tooligie project was highlighted in a 2023 media report investigating the integrity of the ACCU scheme as a rare example of a native forest regeneration project on the Eyre Peninsula where tree cover had demonstrably and materially increased.