South Australia Ediacaran Landscape Regeneration Project

The South Australia Ediacaran Landscape Regeneration Project is a Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) project located approximately 40km south of Leigh Creek and 500km north of Adelaide in the Flinders Ranges of South Australia. Registered in February 2020, the project covers a substantial area of 85,359 hectares. The site encompasses the former Nilpena pastoral station, which was acquired by the South Australian Government to establish the Nilpena Ediacara National Park. Historically used for sheep grazing, the land is now managed for conservation, protecting both its regenerating native vegetation and its globally significant geological heritage.

Human-Induced Regeneration projects generate carbon credits by allowing native forests to regenerate through the removal of suppression mechanisms. In this specific case, the project involves the cessation of livestock grazing and the active management of feral animals (such as goats) that previously suppressed vegetation growth. By removing these pressures, the existing rootstock and seed banks in the soil are able to grow into a permanent, even-aged native forest.

The environment in this region is semi-arid to arid, characterized by the rugged beauty of the Flinders Ranges. The landscape features rolling hills, sandstone outcrops, and open plains with skeletal, sandy, and loam soils. Vegetation is typical of the South Australian outback, including threatened ecological communities such as Mulga low woodlands and River Red Gum woodlands along watercourses. The project area is famous for containing the "Ediacara Biota," some of the oldest fossil evidence of complex animal life on Earth, which adds a layer of international significance to the conservation efforts supported by the carbon project.

This project represents a strategic intersection between carbon farming and heritage conservation. The proponent, the Department for Environment and Water, utilizes the carbon revenue to support the management of the land, which is now a dedicated National Park. The site is part of a bid for UNESCO World Heritage status, highlighting the dual benefits of carbon sequestration and the protection of "the dawn of animal life."