Darling River Eco Corridor #29

Darling River Eco Corridor #29 is a Human-Induced Regeneration project located in the Bourke Shire, approximately 70km northwest of the township of Bourke in western New South Wales. It was registered in November 2017 and covers 23,761.82ha.

Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) projects involve establishing permanent native forests through assisted regeneration from in-situ seed sources, such as rootstock and lignotubers. This is achieved by removing suppressors to allow native vegetation to recover. Standard requirements dictate that the regrowing vegetation must have the potential to reach forest cover, typically defined as at least 20% crown canopy cover and a minimum height of 2 metres.

The Bourke region is characterised by large pastoral grazing properties that primarily run cattle, sheep, and goats. The environment experiences a hot semi-arid climate with low and erratic rainfall and high evaporation rates. Soils across this region generally consist of red soils, sandy loams, and clays.

This project undertakes the management of the timing and extent of livestock grazing, alongside the humane management of feral animals. Historically, feral goats in this specific region have outcompeted native flora, decimating young mulga saplings before they have a chance to establish. By controlling the goat population and actively managing livestock, the project allows young mulga to successfully regenerate across the property's red flats.

Income from the regeneration project has enabled the landholders to invest heavily in property infrastructure, building new boundary fencing, upgrading internal fencing, and installing new waterpoints. This has allowed them to completely exclude feral goats from the project area while giving them more control to move livestock during dry times, greatly improving their drought resilience. Furthermore, carbon offsets from this project have been purchased by Simply Energy to meet their Climate Active carbon neutral standards, highlighting the project's strong biodiversity co-benefits. The project proponent, Terra Carbon Pty Limited, operates under GreenCollar, Australia's largest environmental markets investor and project developer. In 2020, KKR & Co. acquired a 49.9% stake in Terra Carbon for AUD $100 million.