Challa Station Regeneration Project

Challa Station Regeneration Project is a Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) project located on Challa Station, approximately 50 to 60 kilometres from Mount Magnet in the Murchison region of Western Australia. Registered in May 2018, the project spans a massive 190,065.88 hectares.

Human-Induced Regeneration projects involve implementing new management practices to allow native forests to naturally regenerate from in-situ seed sources, such as rootstock and lignotubers. These projects occur on land where vegetation was previously cleared and regrowth has been suppressed for at least 10 years by factors such as livestock or feral animals. Standard requirements include managing the timing and extent of grazing to ensure that the regenerating native vegetation can achieve forest cover, typically defined as reaching at least 2 metres in height and 20% crown cover across the permanence period.

The Murchison area of the Southern Rangelands is primarily known for extensive pastoral operations, historically dominated by sheep and, increasingly, cattle grazing. The environment is typically classified as semi-arid to arid, with low and highly unpredictable rainfall, alongside intensely hot summers. The region's soil profile generally consists of red sandplains, clay loams, and shallow hardpan plains.

As an interesting note, Challa Station has a deep agricultural history, having been stewarded by the Dowden family for five generations since 1888. In 2008, after severe wild dog attacks decimated their Merino sheep flocks, the family made the difficult decision to completely destock their sheep and later transitioned to running Santa Gertrudis cattle. The carbon project and station recently transitioned to the stewardship of Samphire Wild Pty Ltd, a corporate entity linked to the conservation group Forever Wild. In addition to managing grazing for carbon sequestration, the project has actively engaged in rangeland rehabilitation techniques, including installing grader scallops and ponding banks to capture water runoff and rebuild fragile soil health.