Darling River Eco Corridor #36

Darling River Eco Corridor #36 is a Human-Induced Regeneration project located in the semi-arid Mulga Lands bioregion of north-western New South Wales, approximately 180 km west of Bourke and near the settlement of Wanaaring. Registered in May 2018, the project spans a massive 57,164.84 hectares. The surrounding regional land use is predominantly extensive livestock grazing, particularly for sheep, cattle, and goats.

Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) projects involve modifying land management practices to allow native forests to regenerate from natural, in-situ seed sources (including rootstock and lignotubers). Under this methodology, the land must have been previously cleared of vegetation with regrowth suppressed for at least 10 years prior to the project's commencement. The standard requirement dictates that the regenerating vegetation must have the potential to reach a minimum height of 2 metres and achieve at least 20% forest canopy cover across the area. For this specific project, the primary activities implemented to remove growth suppressors include carefully managing the timing and extent of livestock grazing, as well as the humane management and trapping of feral animals.

The environment in this remote part of the Upper Darling and Paroo River catchments is classified as semi-arid, experiencing low and highly variable rainfall that typically averages under 300mm annually. The soil landscape is characteristic of the region, consisting mostly of red sandy loams and red earths (Kandosols) across the flat to slightly undulating plains, intermixed with heavier alluvial clay soils (Vertosols) in the lower-lying claypans and floodplains.

Developed by Terra Carbon Pty Limited, a subsidiary of major Australian environmental markets developer GreenCollar, this project is part of a large aggregation known as the "Darling River Eco Corridor". This large-scale initiative aims to create contiguous zones of protected native vegetation to improve biodiversity connectivity across the landscape. The carbon income from projects within this corridor provides crucial financial security to local graziers, allowing them to proactively de-stock during inevitable droughts, stabilize soils against erosion, and invest in significant infrastructure upgrades such as exclusion fencing and improved water points.