CO2 Australia - Human-Induced Regeneration Project - Stage 1 (Revoked)

CO2 Australia - Human-Induced Regeneration Project - Stage 1 (Revoked) was a human-induced regeneration project located in the Balonne Shire, approximately 60km northwest of St George in South West Queensland. It was registered in March 2017 and covers a project area of 8,265.98 hectares. The broader St George and Balonne Shire region is well known for its extensive agricultural land uses, particularly cattle and sheep grazing, as well as irrigated cotton and grain cropping. The area is classified as semi-arid, experiencing a low average annual rainfall of around 516 mm. Soils in this region typically feature a mix of vertosols (cracking clays), which are common in the river floodplains, alongside sandy and texture-contrast duplex soils.

Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) projects involve establishing permanent, even-aged native forests by removing activities that previously suppressed their growth. For this project, the core activity was the exclusion of livestock from land that had been cleared of vegetation and where natural regrowth had been suppressed for at least 10 years prior to the project's commencement. This methodology relies on allowing the native forest to regenerate naturally from in-situ seed sources, including existing rootstock and lignotubers.

Interestingly, while the project originally commenced with CO2 Australia Limited acting as the primary participant, it was formally transferred to Ian Arnold Nicholson in May 2018 alongside an amendment to the project area boundaries. The project successfully secured a fixed-delivery carbon abatement contract (CAC484370) at the April 2017 auction for the delivery of 51,096 Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs). However, the contract lapsed or was terminated in November 2020 with zero abatement delivered to the Commonwealth, and the project was officially revoked under section 30 of the CFI Rule in April 2021.