Curraweena Regeneration Project

Curraweena Regeneration Project is a Human-Induced Regeneration project located approximately 70km south of Bourke and 90km north of Cobar in western New South Wales. It was registered in April 2016 and covers a substantial area of 19,110.70 hectares.

Human-Induced Regeneration projects involve the establishment of permanent, even-aged native forests by altering land management practices to remove suppressors. In this project, the methodology requirements are met by actively managing the timing and extent of grazing and humanely managing feral animals. This approach allows native forests to recover from in-situ seed sources, such as rootstock and lignotubers, specifically on land that was previously cleared of vegetation and where regrowth had been suppressed for at least 10 years prior to the project commencing.

The Bourke and Cobar area is a semi-arid outback environment characterized by relatively low annual rainfall, averaging roughly 350mm. The region's environment generally features flat to slightly undulating red sandy loam soils, clay plains, and seasonal creek beds with box swamps. General land use in this part of New South Wales is dominated by large-scale pastoral operations, primarily focusing on sheep and cattle grazing, alongside commercial feral goat trapping.

An interesting historical note regarding the property is that Curraweena Station was once a highly developed operational sheep station that rivaled some of the largest pastoral runs in the outback. It is home to unique 1890s-era remnants, including a rare 36-stand stone shearing shed, a local-stone homestead, and one of the largest hand-dug underground rainwater tanks in New South Wales, excavated in the 19th century. Today, instead of intensive grazing, the property is focused on environmental restoration. Carbon credits generated from the project's regeneration efforts have been utilized by major global corporations, with entities like Shell and Woodside Energy purchasing and retiring its Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) for their voluntary emissions offsetting.