Mullagalah II Regeneration Project

Mullagalah II Regeneration Project is a Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) project located on Mullagalah Station in the Bourke-Byrock region of New South Wales, approximately 45km south-east of Bourke. Registered in March 2017, the project covers an area of 5,253 hectares. It operates alongside the earlier Mullagalah Regeneration Project, effectively expanding the carbon abatement footprint on the property.

Human-Induced Regeneration projects involve implementing specific land management changes to facilitate the regrowth of native forest on land where vegetation has been suppressed for at least 10 years. For this project, the proponents, Michael and Tanya Marshman, manage the timing and extent of livestock grazing and actively control feral animals to allow native vegetation to recover from in-situ seed sources like rootstock and lignotubers.

The region is traditionally utilized for the extensive grazing of sheep and cattle and is characterized by a semi-arid climate with low and variable rainfall. While the broader Bourke district typically features red earths and wind-blown sands common to the NSW Mulga lands, the Mullagalah property is geologically distinct. It is known to contain local basaltic diatremes (volcanic pipes), which introduce clay-rich basaltic soils to the landscape, a unique feature detailed in geological studies of the area.

An interesting historical note is that the property lies near the route of the famous Cobb & Co coach lines, linking it to the heritage of the Bourke-Byrock corridor. Commercially, the project has been successful in the carbon market; it held a Carbon Abatement Contract (CAC787990) with the Australian Government for the delivery of 92,045 Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs), which was marked as completed in late 2020.