Mouroubra Station Regeneration Project

Mouroubra Station Regeneration Project is a Human-Induced Regeneration project located at Mouroubra Station, approximately 80km southeast of Paynes Find and 100km north of Beacon in Western Australia. It was registered in November 2018 and originally spanned 130,565.95 hectares across the Mount Marshall Shire, though variations in August 2020 saw some areas removed from the project boundaries. The surrounding area marks the transition between the agricultural Wheatbelt and the Outback, and has historically been used for pastoral grazing, particularly sheep and goat operations.

Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) projects involve establishing permanent, even-aged native forests through assisted regeneration from in-situ seed sources, such as rootstocks and lignotubers. The methodology requires that the land was previously cleared of native vegetation and that regrowth had been suppressed for at least 10 years prior to the project's commencement. To facilitate native regeneration, the project must cease these suppressing activities. In this case, the proponents manage the timing and extent of livestock grazing and implement the humane management of feral animals, such as goats, camels, and horses, which are known to suppress vegetation in the area.

The environment at Mouroubra Station is classified as semi-arid, experiencing low and variable rainfall averaging around 280mm annually. Soils in this region of Western Australia typically consist of red sandy earths, loams, and shallow stony plains characteristic of the Yilgarn Craton, naturally supporting acacia, mallee, and scrub vegetation.

In addition to carbon farming, the property has attracted interest from the mining sector. In July 2022, Wepner Exploration entered into an agreement with the Mouroubra Station Pastoral Leaseholders to explore the area for critical minerals such as nickel, targeting historical magnetic anomalies. The carbon project itself has been highly active, having secured a Commonwealth Carbon Abatement Contract (CAC539957) that was successfully completed in August 2021 after delivering 4,000 ACCUs. To date, the project has been issued 66,677 Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs). Furthermore, corporate entities have purchased and surrendered credits from this project; for instance, Woodside Energy surrendered 5,000 ACCUs from Mouroubra Station to help offset their Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions for the 2021-22 reporting period.