Paroo River North Environmental Project

Paroo River North Environmental Project is a Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) project located in the Mulga Lands of South West Queensland, approximately 85km northwest of Cunnamulla. Registered in November 2016, the project covers a vast area of nearly 53,000 hectares within the Paroo Shire local government area. The region is predominantly used for grazing sheep, cattle, and goats on native vegetation, a practice that historically suppressed forest regrowth through grazing pressure and mechanical clearing.

The project operates under the Carbon Farming Initiative's HIR methodology, which requires landholders to regenerate permanent native forests from in-situ seed sources, rootstock, or lignotubers rather than planting seedlings. To achieve this, the project proponents, Lanin Holdings and Ninal Ventures, manage the timing and extent of grazing and have ceased mechanical destruction of regrowth. This allows native species such as Mulga (Acacia aneura) and Gidgee to regenerate and reach forest cover status.

Environmentally, the Paroo Shire is classified as semi-arid, typically receiving between 300mm and 400mm of rainfall annually. The landscape is characterized by red massive earths (Kandosols) and sandy loams typical of the Mulga Lands, with some clay soils (Vertosols) present in the alluvial floodplains near river systems.

A notable aspect of this project is its commercial history. While the original carbon abatement contract (CAC864407) secured in 2017 was terminated or lapsed, the project successfully secured a subsequent contract (CAC887022) in March 2020 for 410,000 tonnes of abatement. This strategic re-contracting suggests the project successfully adapted to market conditions and remains an active contributor to the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) scheme.