Darling River Conservation Initiative Site #7

Darling River Conservation Initiative Site #7 is a Human-Induced Regeneration project located on the 'Kulwin' property, approximately 110km southwest of Cobar in western New South Wales. It was registered in May 2019 and initially covered 32,820.83 hectares, though an August 2021 project area variation removed some previously listed areas, bringing the actively managed footprint to approximately 6,170 hectares.

Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) projects involve establishing permanent, even-aged native forests by encouraging the natural recovery of native trees from in-situ seed sources, such as rootstock and lignotubers. A standard requirement for this methodology is that the project land must have been previously cleared of vegetation, and that regrowth was actively suppressed for at least 10 years prior to the project commencing.

The Cobar Peneplain region is historically known for rangeland sheep and goat grazing enterprises. The environmental conditions are considered semi-arid with low and highly variable rainfall, and the landscape is uniquely characterised by undulating ridges and red earth soils.

This project is operated by the local property owners in partnership with proponent Terra Carbon Pty Limited, a subsidiary of the environmental markets investor GreenCollar Group. It was actively established to address pressing issues with feral goats and rogue stock causing soil erosion, gully damage, and widespread habitat loss. By changing the timing and extent of livestock grazing, repairing fence lines, and installing new trap yards for feral animal control, the project is rapidly regenerating native forests of Bimble Box, Coolabah, Rosewood, Punty Bush, and Hopbush. The increasing ground cover is stabilising soils, significantly improving water retention, and transforming the area into a haven for returning local wildlife like rare hopping mice, bush rats, carpet pythons, and bearded dragons.