North Comongin Regeneration Project

North Comongin Regeneration Project is a Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) project located in the Quilpie local government area, approximately 24km from the major town of Quilpie in South West Queensland. It was registered on September 3, 2015, and spans a vast project area of 45,285.90 hectares.

Human-Induced Regeneration projects aim to establish permanent, even-aged native forests through assisted regeneration from in-situ seed sources (such as rootstock and lignotubers). By altering land management practices on land where vegetation was previously cleared and regrowth suppressed for at least 10 years, these projects enable native plant species to ultimately achieve a forest cover of at least 20% crown cover and 2 metres in height. Standard requirements involve ceasing clearing and actively managing land use; for this project, the proponents are specifically managing the timing and extent of grazing and humanely controlling feral animals to allow the forest to recover.

The region surrounding Quilpie is historically renowned for large-scale pastoral stations heavily focused on cattle and sheep grazing. The environment is classified as semi-arid with highly variable, low rainfall. The landscape predominantly features native grass plains and mulga scrublands spread across clay pans and typical outback red soils.

Interestingly, North Comongin is a significant historical pastoral property originally part of a massive run which, in its prime, sheared up to 15,000 sheep a season. Historical records from a 1948 Queensland parliamentary session even note that a station manager at North Comongin experimented with ploughing furrows in clay pans to capture water and successfully regenerate young mulga and natural grasses by actively managing sheep grazing rates. This serves as a remarkable early precursor to the very regeneration principles applied in the ACCU scheme today. Over its lifespan as a carbon project, it has seen administrative variations to its registered area and participant structure, ultimately retaining Jon and Kerri Mooring as the active proponents. Local council records from 2018 also show the proponents proactively investing in wild dog exclusion fencing on the property boundaries, closely aligning with their feral animal management activities. Furthermore, the project successfully secured a Carbon Abatement Contract (CAC102616) during the April 2016 carbon auction.