Moombidary Forest Regeneration Project

The Moombidary Forest Regeneration Project is a significant Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) project located on Moombidary Station in the Bulloo Shire of South West Queensland. Situated approximately 50km northwest of the border town of Hungerford and roughly 140km south of Thargomindah, the property lies within the remote "Corner Country" region near the New South Wales border. The project was registered in August 2015 and covers an expansive area of 153,207 hectares. The surrounding region is predominantly utilized for extensive pastoralism, specifically grazing for sheep and cattle, which has historically suppressed native vegetation growth.

Human-Induced Regeneration projects involve implementing land management changes to allow the natural regeneration of native forests. Unlike tree planting, this methodology relies on the presence of existing soil seed banks or suppressed rootstock (lignotubers). For this project, the primary activity involves managing the timing and extent of grazing pressure, likely from domestic livestock and feral goats, to enable native species to recover and reach forest maturity (defined as 20% canopy cover and 2 meters in height).

The environmental conditions in this part of the Bulloo Shire are classified as semi-arid to arid, characterized by low and highly variable rainfall. The landscape typically features red sandy earth plains and gibber country dominated by Mulga (Acacia aneura) shrublands, interspersed with grey clay floodplains associated with the overflow channels of the Bulloo River. The project is facilitated by Climate Friendly Pty Ltd and represents a landscape-scale effort to sequester carbon by restoring the mulga and native woodlands that are endemic to this marginal pastoral zone.