Warroo Regeneration Project

Warroo Regeneration Project is a Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) project located on Warroo Station, an outback pastoral property situated approximately 185km northwest of Bourke in New South Wales and about 16km southeast of the border town of Hungerford, Queensland. It was registered in August 2015 and covers 30,512.73 ha.

Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) projects establish permanent native forests by changing land management practices to allow native vegetation to regenerate naturally from existing in-situ seed sources and rootstock. This typically involves ceasing activities that suppress tree growth. To earn Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs), the regenerating forest must demonstrate the potential to reach forest cover, defined as at least 20% crown cover and a height of at least 2 meters. The Warroo Regeneration Project achieves this by managing the timing and extent of livestock grazing, as well as humanely controlling feral animals on land where regrowth was suppressed for at least 10 years prior to the project commencing.

The Hungerford and Bourke region is characterised by a hot semi-arid climate and experiences low rainfall, averaging around 300mm annually. The local landscape features a mix of red earth, sand dune ridges, and claypans. The primary land use in the area is broadacre pastoral grazing, typically running sheep and cattle across large, arid-zone semi-arid woodlands and shrublands.

The Warroo property has been run by the Dunk family for generations, with Peter Dunk originally listed as a project participant before varying the registration to JDI (Australia) Pty Limited as the Trustee for Dunk Property Investment Trust in 2018. Warroo Station is also located along a historic line of Great Artesian Basin springs running between Fords Bridge and Hungerford, which served as vital watering points and depots for early pioneer pastoralists. The project holds an active fixed carbon abatement contract (CAC102040) with the Clean Energy Regulator, originally committing over 131,000 tonnes of abatement to the Commonwealth, and is facilitated by the carbon agent Climate Friendly Pty Ltd.