Gabyon Station Regeneration Project

The Gabyon Station Regeneration Project is a Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) project located within the Murchison region of Western Australia, approximately 35km west of Yalgoo and roughly 200km east of the major port city of Geraldton. Registered in May 2018, the project covers a substantial area of approximately 270,372 hectares. The region is traditionally utilized for pastoral leasing, specifically rangeland grazing for sheep and cattle. Gabyon Station itself is a historic property, established in the late 19th century, which has diversified its operations from purely wool and meat production to include carbon farming and outback tourism.

The project operates under the Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) methodology. This method requires landholders to regenerate native forests on land where vegetation has been suppressed for at least 10 years, typically by livestock or feral animals. To achieve this, the project activity involves managing the timing and extent of grazing, often through the installation of fencing and water infrastructure, to reduce pressure on vegetation and allow natural regeneration from in-situ seed sources like rootstock and lignotubers.

Environmentally, the site is situated in a semi-arid zone characterized by low and irregular rainfall, often averaging between 200mm and 250mm annually. The landscape is dominated by "Mulga" (Acacia aneura) shrublands and woodlands growing on red earth soils and sandy loams typical of the Yilgarn Craton. These conditions make the land suitable for hardy livestock like Damara sheep but require careful management to prevent overgrazing, which fits the carbon project's objectives.

A notable aspect of this project is its successful fulfillment of a Carbon Abatement Contract (CAC787280) with the Australian Government, which was marked as completed in February 2024. This indicates the project has successfully delivered its contracted volume of over 65,000 Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs). The project is managed by proponent Gemma Lee Cripps in partnership with Select Carbon (a service provider now owned by Shell). The station is also recognized for being women-led, with the Cripps family running the property and integrating carbon revenue to support the station's financial resilience against market fluctuations in the live sheep trade.