Hillview Station Regeneration Project

Hillview Station Regeneration Project is a Human-Induced Regeneration project located at Hillview Station, approximately 60km southeast of the remote town of Meekatharra in the Murchison region of Western Australia. Registered in September 2018, the project spans a massive 147,768 hectares across a pastoral lease. The general land use in this remote region is extensive pastoralism, primarily focused on cattle and sheep grazing.

Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) projects aim to establish permanent, even-aged native forests by promoting the natural regeneration of native trees from in-situ seed sources, such as rootstock and lignotubers. This methodology is applied to land where vegetation was previously cleared and regrowth was actively suppressed for at least 10 years. Key project activities at Hillview Station involve the careful management of the timing and extent of livestock grazing to reduce suppression and allow native vegetation to reach forest cover, rather than mechanically planting trees.

The Murchison region is a semi-arid rangeland environment, typically experiencing a low average annual rainfall of around 240mm. The landscape at Hillview Station features Wanderie tussock grass beneath Mulga woodlands, interspersed with saltbush, rugged breakaway country, and spinifex. Soils in this ancient, weathered region are generally deficient in phosphorus and require careful management or stock supplementation to sustain pastoral activities.

Proponents Darren and Kim Cousens run a regenerative cattle enterprise on the station, operating a core herd of Droughtmaster and Santa Gertrudis cattle. Beyond carbon farming, Hillview Station is highly active in agricultural innovation; they have participated in National Landcare Program 'Smart Farms' initiatives to test advanced grazing management and landscape rehydration techniques. Interestingly, the property also participated in a high-tech trial utilizing satellite-connected "Ceres Tags" to track cattle grazing patterns in real-time and monitor the impacts of wild dog predation across the station. Furthermore, carbon credits generated from this project have been utilized by major corporations, with Woodside Energy reporting the retirement of ACCUs from the Hillview Station Regeneration Project to offset their Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions.