Kenilworth Regrowth Project

Kenilworth Regrowth Project is a Human-Induced Regeneration project located at Kenilworth Station near Byrock, approximately 60km southeast of Bourke in outback New South Wales. It was registered in August 2015 and covers an extensive area of 71,545.55 hectares.

Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) projects involve establishing permanent native forests by changing land management practices to encourage regrowth from in-situ seed sources, such as rootstock and lignotubers. Standard requirements include achieving forest cover with a canopy cover of at least 20% and trees reaching a minimum height of two metres.

The outback region surrounding Bourke and Byrock is predominantly used for rangeland sheep and cattle grazing. The environment is classified as semi-arid, experiencing low and highly variable rainfall. The soils in this region are typically red earths, sandy loams, and some clay.

This project establishes permanent native forest on land that was previously cleared of vegetation and where regrowth had been suppressed for at least 10 years prior to commencement. Project activities include the exclusion of livestock and the humane management of feral animals to allow the land to regenerate. Interestingly, the Clean Energy Regulator required the original proponent, Beautiful Gold International Pty Ltd, to relinquish 10,373 carbon credits in December 2017 before the project was taken over by Select Carbon Pty Ltd in January 2020. Today, Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) generated from the project are used by various organisations, such as the Churchill Trust, Horizon Oil, and AFS & Associates, to offset their corporate emissions.