Rangelands Project

Rangelands Project is a Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) project located approximately 25km north of Adavale and 130km north of Quilpie in outback South West Queensland. It was registered in April 2016 and covers a project area of 28,659.31 hectares.

Human-Induced Regeneration projects under the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) scheme involve changing land management practices to allow native forests to regenerate on land where vegetation has previously been suppressed. Standard requirements for this methodology dictate that proponents must cease all suppression activities, such as mechanical or chemical land clearing, and overgrazing by livestock or feral animals, to allow native trees to grow. The ultimate goal is for the regenerating vegetation to achieve a forest cover of at least 2 metres in height and 20% canopy cover.

The Quilpie and Adavale region is heavily reliant on the pastoral industry, with the dominant land use being beef cattle and sheep grazing on native pastures. The area experiences a hot, semi-arid climate characterized by low and highly variable rainfall. The soils typically found in this landscape consist of outback red and yellow earths, clay plains, and sandy loams.

The Rangelands Project focuses on establishing permanent native forests through assisted regeneration from in-situ seed sources, including rootstock and lignotubers. This is being achieved on land that was cleared of vegetation and where regrowth was actively suppressed for at least 10 years prior to the project's commencement. To facilitate this growth, the proponents have stopped the mechanical and chemical destruction of regrowth and are strictly managing the timing and extent of livestock grazing. Interestingly, the project was originally registered under the name "Climate Friendly Aggregation Project No. 1" before undergoing a formal name variation in February 2020. In July 2022, the proponent details were also updated; it was transferred from the Richardson family to the Crichton family (Jennifer, Stuart, and William), who now operate the project alongside Corporate Carbon Solutions Pty Ltd and their agent, Climate Friendly Pty Ltd.