Lake Barlee Regeneration Project

The Lake Barlee Regeneration Project is a Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) project located in the remote Goldfields-Mid West region of Western Australia. Situated approximately 230 kilometers north of Southern Cross and southeast of the project's namesake, the massive salt lake Lake Barlee, the project operates on land historically associated with pastoral leases such as Mt Jackson Station. Registered in November 2018, the project encompasses a significant area of 127,425 hectares. The surrounding region is characterized by vast, remote rangelands primarily utilized for extensive grazing and mining operations, particularly iron ore and gold exploration.

The project operates under the Human-Induced Regeneration methodology. Unlike environmental planting projects where trees are manually planted, HIR projects rely on regenerating native forests from existing soil seed banks and rootstocks (lignotubers). The core activity involves managing the timing and extent of grazing, primarily by domestic stock like sheep and cattle, as well as feral herbivores like goats, to remove the suppression that previously prevented vegetation from reaching forest cover status. By controlling these pressures, the project allows the native vegetation to re-establish itself naturally.

Environmentally, the site lies within the arid to semi-arid zone of the Yilgarn Craton. The region experiences low and irregular rainfall, typically averaging between 200mm to 250mm annually. The terrain is dominated by red earth soils, sandy loams, and skeletal soils over ironstone ridges. The vegetation is typical of the "Mulga" (Acacia aneura) woodlands and shrublands that define much of the Western Australian interior, capable of lying dormant during drought and responding vigorously to rainfall events.

An interesting aspect of this project is its location within a historically active mining province. The Mt Jackson area, south of the project coordinates, has hosted significant iron ore mining operations (such as those by Cliffs Natural Resources and Mineral Resources). This juxtaposition highlights the dual use of the landscape, where carbon farming is becoming a viable economic alternative or supplement to traditional pastoralism and resource extraction. The project is supported by carbon service provider Select Carbon (now a subsidiary of Shell).