Wintinna Station Forest Regeneration Project

Wintinna Station Forest Regeneration Project is a Human-Induced Regeneration project located at Wintinna Station, approximately 174km north of Coober Pedy in the Far North of South Australia. It was registered in September 2020 and spans a massive 377,732.11 hectares. The surrounding region is predominantly used for extensive pastoralism, specifically beef cattle grazing, with the station running self-replacing Charbray and Angus cross cattle.

Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) projects aim to establish permanent even-aged native forests by suppressing activities that previously prevented regeneration. Under this methodology, vegetation must be regenerated from in-situ seed sources, such as rootstock and lignotubers, on land where regrowth was suppressed for at least 10 years before the project commenced. The proponents are achieving this regeneration by carefully managing the timing and extent of livestock grazing and humanely controlling feral animals.

The environment around Wintinna Station is typical of the outback, experiencing arid to semi-arid climate conditions with low, variable rainfall. The vast landscape comprises two main topographies: mulga sandhills with vibrant red sandy soils on the western side, and open tablelands featuring gibber plains and breakaway country on the eastern side.

An interesting fact about this property is the proponents' commitment to innovative grazing practices. Given the staggering cost of building physical fences across such a large area, estimated at over $5 million to set up an ideal rotation system, station owners Jake Fennell and Francesca Fennell recently hosted a SARDI-led virtual fencing trial. This cutting-edge agricultural technology helps facilitate rest-based grazing, improving pasture recovery after small rainfall events and supporting the native regrowth objectives of their carbon project.