Darling River Conservation Initiative Site #12

Darling River Conservation Initiative Site #12 is a Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) project located in the remote Far West of New South Wales, approximately 45km west of the outback settlement of Wanaaring. Registered in November 2020, the project covers a substantial area of 24,936 hectares. The region is situated within the Unincorporated Area of NSW, a vast zone primarily utilised for extensive rangeland grazing of sheep, cattle, and goats.

Human-Induced Regeneration projects under the 1.1 methodology involve changing land management practices to allow native forests to regenerate on land where regrowth has been historically suppressed, typically for at least 10 years. Key activities for this project include managing the timing and extent of livestock grazing and humanely controlling feral animals, particularly goats, which are a major suppressor of vegetation in the area. The project does not involve planting trees; rather, it relies on in-situ seed sources like rootstock and lignotubers to naturally re-establish forest cover, aiming for a canopy density of 20% at a height of two metres.

The environmental setting is characteristic of the semi-arid Mulga Lands bioregion. The area experiences low and variable rainfall, averaging less than 300mm annually, which drives the "boom and bust" ecological cycle of the district. Soils are predominantly red sandy loams and red earths, supporting vegetation communities dominated by Mulga (Acacia aneura) and other hardy native shrubs.

This project is part of a broader aggregation known as the Darling River Eco-Corridor, managed by the proponent Terra Carbon Pty Limited, which is a subsidiary of the major environmental markets investor GreenCollar. The initiative spans multiple properties in the upper catchments of the Darling River, designed to create large-scale connectivity for wildlife while diversifying income for local graziers through carbon credits.