Longdowns Regeneration Project

Longdowns Regeneration Project is a Human-Induced Regeneration project located across the Bourke and Brewarrina local government areas in northwest New South Wales. It was registered in July 2015 and covers a vast area of 30,025.68 hectares.

Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) projects involve establishing permanent, even-aged native forests through assisted regeneration from in-situ seed sources, such as rootstock and lignotubers. This is specifically applied to land that was previously cleared of vegetation and where natural regrowth was suppressed for at least 10 years prior to the project's commencement.

The Bourke and Brewarrina region is traditionally characterized by extensive pastoral land uses, primarily the grazing of sheep and cattle on large stations. The area is classified as semi-arid, experiencing low and highly variable rainfall, and the regional soils typically consist of red earths, desert loams, and alluvial cracking clays associated with the Darling River basin.

To achieve successful regeneration, this project relies on changing previous land management practices. Project activities include ceasing all mechanical and chemical destruction of regrowth, excluding livestock, carefully managing the timing and extent of any ongoing grazing, and humanely managing feral animals that suppress vegetation.

Interestingly, the project has undergone multiple structural variations over its lifetime, including the temporary addition of Paniri Ventures Pty Ltd as a joint participant alongside Corporate Carbon Solutions between 2016 and 2020. On December 1, 2022, the project was officially divided under section 77A of the Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) Act. Furthermore, carbon credits generated by the Longdowns Regeneration Project are highly active in the voluntary and secondary markets, having been purchased and retired by major Australian organizations, including Dexus, Orica, and NABERS, to fulfill their corporate emissions offset targets.