Cookara Regeneration Project

The Cookara Regeneration Project is a Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) project located at Cookara Station, approximately 50km north of the outback town of Eulo in southwest Queensland. Registered in September 2020, the project encompasses a substantial area of 29,220 hectares. The property is situated within the Paroo Shire, a region traditionally dominated by rangeland grazing operations for sheep and cattle.

The project operates under the Human-Induced Regeneration methodology, which credits landholders for allowing native forests to regenerate on land where regrowth was previously suppressed for at least 10 years. This is achieved primarily by managing the timing and extent of grazing livestock and ceasing mechanical clearing. For a project of this nature in the Mulga Lands bioregion, this typically involves controlling total grazing pressure, managing cattle, sheep, and feral goats, to protect young saplings, allowing them to reach forest canopy height.

Environmentally, the Cookara project area is characterized by a semi-arid climate with highly variable rainfall, typical of the "soft mulga" country. The landscape features red earth and sandy loam soils that support vegetation such as Mulga (Acacia aneura) and Poplar Box woodlands. The project is managed by Cookara Pastoral Pty Ltd, acting as trustee for several family trusts (Kelly, Wood, Clark, and Hogan), and is supported by carbon service provider Climate Friendly.