Boothulla Regeneration Project

The Boothulla Regeneration Project is a Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) project located on Boothulla station, approximately 60km northwest of the locality of Cooladdi and roughly 110km west of the major service centre of Charleville in South West Queensland. Registered in August 2015, the project covers a massive area of 72,656 hectares. The property is situated within the Mulga Lands bioregion, an area historically dominated by pastoral grazing.

Human-Induced Regeneration projects focus on regenerating native forests by identifying land where vegetation has been suppressed, typically by grazing or mechanical clearing, and changing management practices to facilitate regrowth. This project relies on assisted regeneration from in-situ seed sources, such as rootstock and lignotubers, rather than planting new trees. Key activities include the cessation of mechanical or chemical destruction of regrowth and the strategic management of the timing and extent of grazing to allow forest cover to re-establish.

The environmental conditions at Boothulla are characteristic of the semi-arid Mulga Lands. The terrain features open mulga (Acacia aneura) country with areas of Mitchell grass and red earth or sandy loam soils. The property also has frontage to the Paroo River. Rainfall in this region is variable and often low, making vegetation management critical for both carbon sequestration and drought resilience.

The project is operated by the Boothulla Cattle Company, directed by the Treloar family, who have owned the station since 1957. Beyond the carbon project, the proponents have been recognized for their environmental stewardship, including participating in riparian fencing initiatives to protect the Paroo River frontage. While the station historically ran sheep, operations transitioned primarily to cattle in the early 2000s due to wild dog impacts.