Farnham Plains Regeneration Project

Farnham Plains Regeneration Project is a Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) project located at Farnham Plains Station near Eulo, approximately 55km west of Cunnamulla in the Paroo Shire of South West Queensland. It was registered in September 2019 and covers 30,103.96 hectares.

Human-Induced Regeneration projects involve allowing permanent, even-aged native forests to re-establish through assisted regeneration from in-situ seed sources, such as rootstock and lignotubers. To achieve this, the methodology mandates removing or managing suppressors, such as livestock grazing, feral animals, or mechanical clearing, that have prevented natural regrowth for at least 10 years prior to the project commencing.

The Paroo region sits within a semi-arid climate characterised by low, episodic rainfall and long feed gaps. Its typical soil types include hard-setting claypans, red earths, and sandy loams found throughout the Mulga Lands bioregion. The primary land use in the area is extensive livestock grazing for sheep and cattle.

This specific project is implemented by the Beresford family (Carmel, Lauren, and Michael), with Climate Friendly Pty Ltd acting as the project agent. Their carbon farming activities focus on the cessation of mechanical or chemical destruction of regrowth, carefully managing the timing and extent of grazing, and the humane control of feral animals to facilitate vegetation recovery. Notably, project proponent Lauren Beresford won the 2024 Lachlan Hughes Foundation "Tree of Life" Award for her work developing low-cost regenerative agricultural practices to restore degraded, hard-setting claypans using cattle on Farnham Plains.