North West Regeneration Project

North West Regeneration Project (formerly Birrimba/The Cato Regeneration Project) is a Human-Induced Regeneration project located near Enngonia and Barringun, approximately 100km north of Bourke in outback New South Wales. It was registered in August 2015 and covers 21,251.40 hectares.

Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) projects involve changing land management practices to establish permanent, even-aged native forests, allowing native vegetation to naturally regenerate from in-situ seed sources and reach forest cover (at least 20% canopy cover and 2 metres in height). The project achieves this by ceasing the mechanical or chemical destruction of regrowth, managing the timing and extent of livestock grazing, and humanely controlling feral animals.

The Bourke and Enngonia region is characterized by semi-arid, low rainfall conditions. The local environment typically features a mix of red clay, red loam slopes, and open soft black soils along the floodplains of the Warrego River. The primary land use in this district is extensive pastoralism, specifically sheep and cattle grazing.

Interestingly, this carbon project takes place on "Warrego Station," an 82,000-acre pastoral aggregation comprising the Birrimba, The Cato, and Winrae properties. The properties are owned by the proponents, Robert Mudford and Scott Mudford, whose family has been farming in the Central West of NSW for over 110 years and runs the Parkdale Merino Stud. The carbon project specifically targets land that was previously cleared and where native regrowth had been actively suppressed for at least 10 years prior to commencement. Furthermore, public registry records show that the Clean Energy Regulator accepted enforceable undertakings from the project's agents, Climate Friendly Pty Ltd and Australian Carbon Traders Pty Ltd, between 2016 and 2018.