Blinky Forest Carbon Project

The Blinky Forest Carbon Project is a Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) project located approximately 45 kilometers southeast of the small township of Adavale and roughly 80 kilometers northeast of Quilpie in South West Queensland. Registered in April 2018, the project spans a significant area of 49,303 hectares. The region is situated within the "Mulga Lands" bioregion, an area traditionally dominated by sheep and cattle grazing on large pastoral stations.

Human-Induced Regeneration projects differ from environmental plantings in that they do not involve manually planting trees. Instead, the methodology requires landholders to manage the land in a way that allows suppressed native vegetation to regenerate naturally. In this specific ecosystem, this typically involves controlling grazing pressure from livestock and feral animals (such as goats) and ceasing mechanical clearing. The goal is to facilitate the regrowth of native species, predominantly Mulga (Acacia aneura) and Poplar Box, to a point where they achieve "forest cover" status.

The environmental conditions in the Quilpie Shire are characterized as semi-arid, with an average annual rainfall of approximately 300mm to 400mm, which is often highly variable. The terrain is generally flat to gently undulating, featuring red earth soils known as Kandosols. These soils are typical of the Mulga Lands; they are often low in fertility and hold water poorly, making the native vegetation highly adapted to drought conditions.

An interesting aspect of this project is its corporate history. Public records indicate a legal dispute in the Supreme Court of Queensland in 2023 between the original participant, Tacora Agri Pty Ltd, and the current proponent, Prove Pastoral GP Pty Ltd. Following this, the project participant name was formally varied on the registry in January 2024. Additionally, Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) from this project have been purchased by major entities such as AGL Energy to support their carbon-neutral electricity products, highlighting the project's role in the voluntary corporate offset market.