Stacpoole Pastoral Holdings Forest Regeneration Project

Stacpoole Pastoral Holdings Forest Regeneration Project is a Human-Induced Regeneration project located near Bandya Station, approximately 110km north of Laverton in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia. It was registered in August 2020 and covers 83,951.67ha.

Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) projects involve implementing new land management practices to help native forests regrow where they were previously suppressed by activities like livestock grazing, feral animals, or mechanical clearing for at least 10 years. Instead of direct planting, the method relies on natural regeneration from in-situ seed sources, lignotubers, and rootstock. In this project, regeneration is being encouraged by actively managing the timing and extent of livestock grazing.

The Laverton and Bandya region is predominantly used for large-scale pastoral leases, historically for sheep and cattle grazing, as well as gold mining operations. The area is considered an arid to semi-arid climate with low, highly variable rainfall, and local soils typically consist of red sandy earths, clay loams, and shallow stony profiles.

This project focuses on establishing permanent native forests on land that had been heavily cleared and suppressed for over a decade prior to the project's commencement. In July 2024, a variation was applied to the project to remove certain areas from the original spatial boundaries. Interestingly, the proponent, Stacpoole Pastoral Holdings Pty Ltd, faced a proposed deregistration notice in 2017, and the company was also referenced in a 2025 Administrative Review Tribunal tax case regarding unexplained bank deposits.