Yerilla & Menangina Station Regeneration Project

Yerilla & Menangina Station Regeneration Project is a Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) project located in the Goldfields region approximately 105km north-northeast of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. It was registered in May 2018 and covers a vast 475,882.90 hectares across the Menzies and Leonora local government areas.

Human-Induced Regeneration projects involve changing land management practices to allow native vegetation to regenerate and achieve true forest cover, which typically requires trees to eventually reach at least 2 meters in height with a minimum canopy cover of 20%. This specific project establishes permanent native forests through assisted regeneration from in-situ seed sources (including rootstock and lignotubers) on land where regrowth was previously suppressed for at least 10 years. The proponent, D. & C. Geraghty Pty Ltd, achieves this regeneration by actively managing the timing and extent of livestock grazing across their pastoral leases.

The Menzies and Leonora region consists of semi-arid rangelands with very low relief and an average rainfall of roughly 210mm per year. The local environment is characterized by internal drainage into salt lake systems, and the soils are typically sandy and gravelly red dirt. Historically highly prized for wool production, the region's broader agricultural land use has largely shifted from sheep and goats to cattle farming due to increased wild dog predation over the past few decades.

An interesting fact about this project area is that Menangina Station is a notable scientific site for finding "australites", dark, glassy tektites created by ancient meteorite impacts that have been uniquely preserved by shallow burial in the local sandy soils. Additionally, the project recently completed its initial fixed-delivery carbon abatement contract (CAC185102) with the Australian Government in February 2023.