Hickleton Station Forest Regeneration

Hickleton Station Forest Regeneration is a Human-Induced Regeneration project located at Hickleton Station, approximately 120km southwest of Longreach in Queensland. It was registered in October 2015 and covers an area of 15,724.40 hectares. The Longreach region is traditionally known for large-scale pastoral operations, primarily cattle and sheep grazing. The local environment features a semi-arid climate with volatile, low rainfall, and landscapes commonly dominated by heavy cracking clay soils.

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. To participate under this methodology, the land must have been previously cleared of vegetation, with regrowth suppressed for at least 10 years prior to the project commencing. To achieve the required forest cover, project activities at Hickleton Station focus on changing agricultural practices, specifically managing the timing and extent of livestock grazing to allow native vegetation to recover.

The project has been a significant contributor to the carbon market, securing a Carbon Abatement Contract with the Commonwealth in November 2015. This contract (CAC102462) was successfully completed in October 2024, delivering a total of 88,647 Australian Carbon Credit Units. The property is managed by proponents David and Raymond Quinn, who have experienced the extreme volatility of the outback climate firsthand, including a severe weather event where a massive 600mm downpour caused dramatic flooding across Hickleton Station.