Burns Carbon Project

The Burns Carbon Project (ERF102626) is a Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) project located on Ardgour Station, approximately 30km southeast of Wyandra and 120km south of Charleville in South West Queensland. Registered in December 2015, the project covers 8,282 hectares of land situated within the Paroo Shire local government area. The region is historically dominated by pastoral leases used for sheep and cattle grazing, a land use that shaped the vegetation suppression the project now seeks to reverse.

Human-Induced Regeneration projects focus on restoring native forests by stopping activities that previously suppressed vegetation growth. In this specific case, the project methodology involves managing the timing and extent of grazing to allow native species, primarily Mulga and Poplar Box, to regenerate. The project requirements stipulate that the land must have been cleared or suppressed for at least 10 years prior to registration and must be managed to eventually achieve "forest cover" status, defined as 20% canopy cover with trees reaching at least 2 meters in height.

The project is situated in the Mulga Lands bioregion, a semi-arid environment characterized by hot summers and variable rainfall averaging around 400mm annually. The soils in this area are typically red earths and loams, which support the regeneration of resilient acacia and eucalypt species when grazing pressure is reduced.

An interesting feature of the Burns Carbon Project is its integration with broader conservation efforts. Following a severe drought in 2016, the property was destocked, and in 2022, Ardgour Station was declared a nature refuge under the Queensland Government's NatureAssist program. This designation formalizes a conservation agreement to protect the land's ecological values. Corporate Carbon Group, which manages the project, has undertaken additional activities such as removing 45 kilometers of internal fencing to improve wildlife movement, demonstrating a dual focus on carbon abatement and biodiversity.