Rangelands Project

Rangelands Project is a Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) project located on pastoral land off Gilmore Road near the township of Adavale, approximately 110 kilometers north of Quilpie in South West Queensland. Registered in April 2016, the project covers a substantial area of 28,659 hectares. The region is part of the Mulga Lands bioregion, an area heavily relied upon for sheep and cattle grazing, which serves as the primary land use for the surrounding properties.

The project operates under the Human-Induced Regeneration methodology, which credits landholders for regenerating permanent even-aged native forests. This is achieved by suppressing activities that previously prevented regrowth, such as mechanical clearing or intensive grazing. For the Rangelands Project, the specific activities involve managing the timing and extent of grazing pressure to allow native vegetation, primarily Mulga woodlands, to recover and sequester carbon in the landscape.

Environmentally, the site sits in a semi-arid zone characterized by low and variable rainfall, typically averaging between 300mm and 400mm annually. The soils in this vicinity are predominantly red earths and clay loams, which support the drought-hardy Acacia shrublands typical of the Mulga country. These ecosystems are resilient but require careful management of stocking rates to maintain vegetation cover during dry spells.

An interesting administrative detail regarding this project is its evolution in the carbon market; it was originally registered as Climate Friendly Aggregation Project No. 1 before being renamed the Rangelands Project in 2020. Additionally, the participant structure has shifted over time, with a variation in 2022 updating the proponents to the Crichton family (Jennifer, Stuart, and William) alongside Corporate Carbon Solutions, replacing previous participants including the Richardson family. This suggests a potential change in property ownership or a restructuring of the project's management strategy.