Booka Regeneration Project

The Booka Regeneration Project is a Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) project located on "Booka" Station, approximately 50 kilometers southwest of Bourke in the Far West region of New South Wales. Registered in February 2021, the project covers a significant area of 9,728 hectares. The property sits within the Mulga Lands bioregion, an area traditionally dominated by grazing operations for sheep, cattle, and goats.

Human-Induced Regeneration projects in this context involve implementing land management changes to facilitate the regrowth of native forest. For this specific project, the proponent, Phillip Hugh Ridge, manages the timing and extent of grazing and controls feral animals to allow suppressed vegetation, such as Mulga (Acacia aneura) and Bimble Box (Eucalyptus populnea), to regenerate. The methodology requires that the land has the potential to achieve forest cover (20% canopy density at a height of 2 meters) and that regrowth had been suppressed for at least 10 years prior to the project's commencement.

The environment in this part of Western NSW is semi-arid, typically receiving around 300-350mm of rainfall annually, which can be highly variable. The landscape is characterized by red earth soils, sandy loams, and occasional clay pans, supporting a mix of acacia woodlands and shrublands. The project is situated on traditional Kurnu Barkandji country. Records indicate the Ridge family has a long-standing connection to the district, with the proponent also associated with the nearby "Nulty" property.