Austin Downs Station Regeneration Project

Austin Downs Station Regeneration Project is a Human-Induced Regeneration project located on a pastoral lease approximately 17km northwest of Cue in the Murchison region of Western Australia. It was registered in May 2018 and covers a project area of 157,561.89 hectares.

Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) projects establish permanent native forests through assisted regeneration from in-situ seed sources, such as rootstock and lignotubers. This methodology requires that the land was previously cleared of vegetation and that native regrowth was actively suppressed for at least 10 years prior to the project commencing. For this project, the standard activities involve closely managing the timing and extent of livestock grazing to allow the native canopy to recover.

The Cue and Murchison area is traditionally known for extensive pastoral sheep and cattle grazing, alongside historical gold mining operations. The region is classified as a semi-arid rangeland and experiences very low annual rainfall, historically averaging in the low 200mm range. The local environment features ephemeral lakes and prominent granite monoliths, while the soils largely consist of flat colluvium and alluvial plains that support diverse native shrublands, saltbushes, and acacias.

This project is managed by the inter-generational Jackson family in close collaboration with First Nations Traditional Owners. After the property suffered severe historical degradation from intensive grazing, previously running up to 16,000 sheep, the proponents transitioned to lower-impact cattle grazing designed to mimic natural herd movements. Additionally, to prove the environmental integrity of their regeneration efforts amidst wider public scrutiny of HIR methods, the station recently had its biodiversity data rigorously and independently verified against the Accounting for Nature Framework by RSM.