Atley Station Regeneration Project

Atley Station Regeneration Project is a Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) project located at Atley Station in the Mid-West region of Western Australia, approximately 50km southwest of Sandstone and 110km east of Mount Magnet. It was registered in May 2018 and originally covered a vast 350,796.47 hectares, although some areas were later removed following a project area variation in 2020.

Human-Induced Regeneration projects aim to establish permanent, even-aged native forests on land where vegetation has previously been cleared and regrowth suppressed for at least 10 years. Under this methodology, landholders allow native vegetation to regenerate from in-situ seed sources (such as rootstock and lignotubers) by actively managing threats. For this project, the core activities involve carefully managing the timing and the extent of grazing by livestock to allow the forest to successfully recover.

The Sandstone region is semi-arid and primarily known for broadacre pastoral operations (such as sheep and cattle grazing) and historical gold mining. The environmental conditions feature low rainfall and red loamy soils, often overlying siliceous hardpans or transitioning into sandy plains. The native flora typically consists of mulga, curara, saltbush, bluebush, and spinifex grasses, all of which are uniquely adapted to the dry climate.

Interestingly, Atley Station has a rich pastoral history dating back to before 1915, operating for decades as a sheep and goat station. In April 2026, the participant name on the carbon project transitioned from the Hodshon Family Trust to ADJAB Carbon Pty Ltd, joining Select Carbon as key participants in driving the regeneration forward. In addition to carbon sequestration, such large-scale regeneration efforts offer substantial co-benefits to the semi-arid ecosystem, helping to restore habitats for local wildlife, including a large variety of native lizards and snakes recorded across the station.