Urisino Regenerative Ecosystem Project

The Urisino Regenerative Ecosystem Project (Project ID: EOP100637) is a Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) project located at Urisino Station in the unincorporated Far West region of New South Wales. The massive 77,863 hectare project area sits approximately 37km west of the village of Wanaaring and 200km west of the major service centre of Bourke. Registered in May 2014 by Benefit Property Holdings Pty Ltd, the project operates on a pastoral lease that was historically used for sheep and cattle grazing but had suffered significant degradation from overgrazing prior to the project's inception.

Human-Induced Regeneration projects in this context involve implementing land management changes to facilitate the regrowth of native forests from in-situ seed sources (such as rootstock and lignotubers) without active planting. For Urisino, this involves strict management of the timing and extent of livestock grazing, alongside the humane control of feral animals (likely goats) which are a primary suppressor of vegetation in the region. The goal is to allow native vegetation to recover to a "forest" status, defined as 20% canopy cover at a height of 2 metres.

The environmental setting is typical of the semi-arid Mulga Lands, characterized by low and variable rainfall averaging around 229mm (9 inches) annually. The landscape is dominated by Mulga (*Acacia aneura*) and Bimble Box communities on red earth and sandy loam soils. Notably, the property was described as the "largest carbon project in Australia's history" around the time of its registration, reflecting its vast scale. In January 2016, the project proponent was required to relinquish 2,796 Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs), a regulatory mechanism sometimes used to correct over-crediting or ineligible land inclusions. The project successfully completed a carbon abatement contract with the Australian Government in 2021.