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

CO2 Australia - Human-Induced Regeneration Project - Stage 1 (Revoked) was a carbon sequestration project located approximately 60km northwest of St George in the Balonne region of Queensland. Registered in March 2017, the project covered a significant area of 8,265 hectares. The project was originally developed by CO2 Australia Limited before being transferred to Ian Arnold Nicholson in May 2018.

The project operated under the Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) methodology. This method requires landholders to cease activities that suppress vegetation growth, such as mechanical clearing or unmanaged grazing, to allow native forests to regenerate from in-situ seed sources (like rootstock and lignotubers). In this specific instance, the primary activity was the exclusion of livestock to facilitate the return of permanent even-aged native forest.

The St George region is a major agricultural hub, predominantly known for sheep and cattle grazing, as well as cotton and wheat cropping on the floodplains. The environment is classified as semi-arid with an average annual rainfall of approximately 500mm. The soils in this area are geographically diverse, ranging from grey Vertosols (cracking clays) on the alluvial floodplains to red Kandosols (massive earths) in the Mulga lands and ridges away from the river systems.

Notably, this project was voluntarily revoked under Section 30 of the CFI Rule in April 2021, following the termination of its carbon abatement contract in November 2020. Section 30 revocations are generally initiated by the project proponent, often indicating that the project was either not meeting sequestration targets, was no longer commercially viable, or the landholder wished to exit the scheme.