Mayfield Regeneration Project

The Mayfield Regeneration Project is a carbon farming initiative located approximately 40 kilometres southwest of Charleville in South West Queensland. Registered in August 2015, the project spans a significant area of 19,427 hectares within the Murweh Shire. The region is situated in the Mulga Lands bioregion, an area historically dominated by sheep and cattle grazing operations.

This project operates under the Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) methodology. This method involves allowing native forests to regenerate on land where vegetation was previously suppressed, typically by agricultural activities. Instead of active tree planting, the project proponents, S & R McDonald Pty Ltd, facilitate regeneration by managing the timing and extent of livestock grazing, controlling feral animals, and ceasing mechanical clearing. The goal is to allow native species, particularly Mulga (Acacia aneura), to re-establish forest cover over time.

The environmental conditions at Mayfield are characteristic of the semi-arid Mulga Lands. The area receives an average annual rainfall of approximately 450mm to 500mm. The soils are predominantly red earths and sandy loams, which are well-suited to supporting the native shrublands and low woodlands targeted by the project.

An interesting administrative detail regarding this project is the transfer of the proponent role recorded in December 2017. The project was originally registered by Knight Pastoral (Jason and Benjamin Knight) before being transferred to the McDonald family trust. This typically indicates a change in property ownership or the sale of the carbon project rights, ensuring the land remains under a carbon maintenance obligation despite the change in management.