Woodleigh Station Regeneration Project

Woodleigh Station Regeneration Project is a Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) project located at Woodleigh Station, approximately 160km south-southeast of Carnarvon in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia, directly east of the Hamelin Pool in Shark Bay. Registered in May 2018, the project spans an immense 415,526.10 hectares. The surrounding Gascoyne region is quintessential Australian outback, traditionally utilized for broadacre pastoral grazing (such as cattle and sheep) and more recently, eco-tourism. The environment is distinctly semi-arid to arid, characterized by low, erratic rainfall and predominantly red sandy desert soils, calcareous loams, and rocky limestone outcroppings.

Human-Induced Regeneration projects aim to establish permanent even-aged native forests by removing the suppressive factors that prevent natural regrowth. In this project, the primary activity is managing the timing and extent of grazing. By controlling livestock and grazing pressures, native vegetation is encouraged to naturally regenerate from in-situ seed sources, rootstock, and lignotubers on land that was previously cleared and where regrowth had been suppressed for at least 10 years.

There are several fascinating details surrounding this project and its proponent. Woodleigh Station sits directly over the "Woodleigh impact structure," a massive buried meteorite crater discovered in the year 2000. Believed to date back to the Late Devonian period, it is estimated to be up to 120km in diameter, making it one of the largest confirmed impact structures in Australia. Furthermore, the project proponent, Richard (Rick) Fenny, is a well-known Western Australian "Desert Vet". Having spent roughly 50 years travelling the outback, he is featured in his own television series and is historically famous for being the veterinarian who cared for the legendary roaming Pilbara kelpie, "Red Dog". In terms of project administration, an initial carbon abatement contract (CAC852979) was secured in June 2018 but concluded and lapsed in January 2022. More recently, in May 2024, the project underwent a variation to remove specific parcels of land from the registered project boundaries.