Hickleton Station Forest Regeneration

Hickleton Station Forest Regeneration is a Human-Induced Regeneration project located approximately 130km west of Longreach in Central West Queensland. It was registered in October 2015 and covers 15,724.40ha.

Human-Induced Regeneration projects involve ceasing activities that suppress native vegetation growth, such as overgrazing or clearing, to allow permanent native forests to regenerate and eventually achieve a forest cover of at least 20% canopy and 2m height.

The Longreach area is known for extensive sheep and cattle grazing operations. The region is considered semi-arid with low, highly variable rainfall, and the soils are generally cracking clays and red earths common to the Mitchell grass downs.

This project establishes permanent native forests through assisted regeneration from in-situ seed sources (including rootstock and lignotubers) on land where regrowth was suppressed for at least 10 years. To achieve this, the proponents manage the timing and extent of livestock grazing. The project secured a Carbon Abatement Contract (CAC102462) with the Commonwealth in November 2015 and successfully completed its fixed delivery obligation of 88,647 carbon credits by October 2024. Interestingly, despite the region's semi-arid climate, Hickleton Station has historically been subjected to extreme weather; the property experienced a massive flooding event where a sudden downpour dumped 600mm of rain, causing significant damage to the property and its fences.