Norley Regeneration Project

Norley Regeneration Project is a Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) project located at Norley Station, approximately 45 kilometres north-west of Thargomindah in the Bulloo Shire of South West Queensland. It was registered in November 2017 and covers a massive 273,688.51 hectares.

Human-Induced Regeneration projects involve establishing permanent, even-aged native forests through assisted regeneration from in-situ seed sources (such as rootstock and lignotubers) on land that was previously cleared of vegetation and where regrowth was actively suppressed for at least 10 years. For this specific project, the standard methodology requirements involve ceasing any mechanical or chemical destruction of regrowth and carefully managing the timing and extent of livestock grazing to allow the native forest to recover.

The Thargomindah region is traditionally known for large-scale pastoral operations, primarily cattle and sheep farming. The local environment is characterised by a semi-arid climate with low and highly variable rainfall, featuring predominantly Mitchell grass plains, red sandy loams, and clay soils.

The project's proponent, Usher Pastoral Company Pty Ltd, is a prominent pastoral operator in the region, managing extensive landholdings that include the nearby Orient and Mount Margaret stations. An interesting operational note about this project is that its carbon agent, Climate Friendly Pty Ltd, purchased and retired 221 Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) generated from the Norley property to help achieve their own Climate Active carbon-neutral certification in the 2019-2020 reporting period. Additionally, the project successfully fulfilled a government carbon abatement contract (CAC297948) in October 2020, delivering a total of 41,813 ACCUs to the Commonwealth.