Cooneybar Station Forest Regeneration Project (Revoked)

Cooneybar Station Forest Regeneration Project is a Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) project located at Cooneybar Station, approximately 90km north-east of Cobar in the semi-arid region of central-western New South Wales. It was registered in November 2016 and covers an area of 18,608 hectares.

Human-Induced Regeneration projects involve changing land management practices to allow native forests to naturally regrow on land where human activity had previously suppressed vegetation. Under standard methodology requirements, proponents must demonstrate that native regrowth was actively suppressed for at least 10 years prior to the project's commencement, often through livestock grazing, feral animals, or mechanical clearing. Landholders then manage these suppressing factors to allow the land to achieve a permanent native forest cover.

The Cobar region is historically known for pastoral land uses, primarily extensive sheep and cattle grazing on native vegetation. The local environment is classified as semi-arid, experiencing hot summers, cool winters, and a low, highly variable annual rainfall averaging around 390mm to 400mm. Soils across Cooneybar Station typically consist of flat red loams and highly fertile chocolate soil flats, intersected by mulga creeks and timbered with rosewood, wilga, and kurrajong.

This project was established by Cooneybar Station Pty Ltd, with Carbon Farmers of Australia acting as the agent. The core project activity involved managing the timing and extent of livestock grazing to allow in-situ seed sources, rootstocks, and lignotubers to regenerate. The project originally secured a Commonwealth carbon abatement contract (CAC342701) in November 2016 to deliver 269,925 Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs). However, this contract lapsed or was terminated in February 2018 with zero abatement sold to the government. The project was officially revoked on May 13, 2026, under section 32 of the Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) Rule.