Austin Downs Station Regeneration Project

Austin Downs Station Regeneration Project (ERF121665) is a Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) project located on the Austin Downs pastoral lease, approximately 17 kilometres southeast of the town of Cue in the Murchison region of Western Australia. Registered in May 2018, the project covers a vast area of approximately 157,561 hectares. The project is managed by proponent Tom Staley Jackson in conjunction with carbon service provider Select Carbon Pty Ltd (now a subsidiary of Shell).

The project operates under the Human-Induced Regeneration methodology, which differs from tree planting projects. Instead of manually planting seedlings, this method focuses on regenerating native forest by managing the factors that suppress growth, primarily the timing and extent of grazing by livestock and feral animals. On Austin Downs, the proponents have transitioned from historical high-density sheep grazing to lower-impact cattle management and conservation strategies. This change in land management allows existing rootstock and seeds in the soil to germinate and grow into permanent native forest, sequestering carbon in the biomass.

The Murchison region is a semi-arid rangeland characterized by low, variable rainfall (averaging roughly 200–250mm annually) and soils that typically consist of red earths, sandy loams, and shallow soils over granite. The vegetation is dominated by Mulga (Acacia aneura) woodlands, Eremophila shrublands, and saltbush. The station itself features significant landscape assets, including part of the ephemeral salt lake Lake Austin and the granite monolith Walga Rock.

A notable aspect of this project is its leadership in biodiversity verification. Austin Downs has been used as a pilot for "CarbonPlus" credits, linking its Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) with certified environmental outcomes. The station holds a certified Environmental Account under the Accounting for Nature framework (achieving an Econd score of 76.4/100), which scientifically verifies the co-benefits of the regeneration work, such as improved habitat for the Western Pygmy Skink and migratory waterbirds. A project variation occurred in July 2020 to remove certain land areas, a common practice in this region to exclude areas overlapping with active mining tenements or infrastructure.