Walling Rock Station Regeneration Project

Walling Rock Station Regeneration Project is a Human-Induced Regeneration project located at Walling Rock Station, approximately 80km west of Menzies and 180km northwest of Kalgoorlie in the Goldfields region of Western Australia. Registered in May 2018, the project initially spanned a massive 153,383.87 hectares, though a registry variation in August 2022 saw some areas removed from the project footprint.

Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) projects involve regenerating permanent even-aged native forests by changing land management practices. Under this methodology, the land must have been cleared of vegetation and regrowth suppressed for at least 10 years prior to the project starting. The regenerating native trees must also have the potential to reach a minimum height of 2 meters and a crown cover of at least 20%. In this specific project, the proponent actively manages the timing and extent of livestock grazing to allow native trees to naturally recover from in-situ seed sources, including rootstock and lignotubers.

The Menzies and broader Goldfields regions are historically known for pastoralism, primarily sheep and cattle grazing, as well as legacy and active gold mining operations. The environment is classified as semi-arid to a hot desert climate, experiencing low and highly variable rainfall. Regional soils typically consist of red sandy earths and clay loams, which support resilient desert flora such as thick mulga scrub, native grasses, and deep-rooted timber like sandalwood.

An interesting piece of history regarding this property is its deep ties to Western Australian resource management. The proponent, pastoralist Keith Mader, had a long history in the region's commercial sandalwood harvesting industry before pivoting to carbon farming. The station also hosts the remote Metzke's Find Gold Mine, an isolated historic reef hidden in thick mulga scrub that was discovered by prospectors in 1911. Commercially, the carbon project successfully secured a fixed-delivery carbon abatement contract (CAC540320) in June 2018 for 128,778 ACCUs, which Clean Energy Regulator records show was completed in January 2022.