Woodlands Forest Regeneration Project (Revoked)

Woodlands Forest Regeneration Project (Revoked) was a Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) project located in South West Queensland, approximately 45km southeast of the town of Wyandra and 120km south of Charleville. Registered in August 2015 by proponents Deirdre and Donald Kym Williams, along with Other Participant Carbon Farmers of Australia No. 1 Limited, the project covered a substantial area of 34,088.21 hectares. The surrounding region is predominantly used for broadacre sheep and cattle grazing on native pastures.

Human-Induced Regeneration projects aim to establish permanent native forests on land where vegetation has been cleared and regrowth suppressed for at least 10 years prior to the project commencement. The methodology requires landholders to alter their management practices to allow the forest to recover to a mature canopy cover. For this project, standard activities included ceasing the mechanical or chemical destruction of regrowth and carefully managing the timing and extent of livestock grazing. This process relies on assisted regeneration, allowing in-situ seed sources, rootstock, and lignotubers to naturally regenerate the landscape.

Situated within the Mulga Lands bioregion, the environmental conditions are distinctly semi-arid, experiencing low and highly variable annual rainfall. The local soils typically consist of sandy red earths, clay loams, and texture-contrast soils that naturally support mulga woodlands, semi-arid shrubs, and native grasses.

An interesting fact about this project is its early cancellation. On April 11, 2018, the Woodlands Forest Regeneration Project was officially revoked under Section 32 of the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Rule 2015. Section 32 allows the Clean Energy Regulator to revoke the declaration of an eligible offsets project, which is typically initiated by a voluntary request from the proponent when a project is no longer viable, the land is sold, or the participants can no longer proceed with the required regenerative activities.