'Western Australia Rangelands Conservation Initiative Site 18

Western Australia Rangelands Conservation Initiative Site 18 is a Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) project located in the Shark Bay local government area of Western Australia, approximately 220km north of Geraldton. It was registered in March 2021 and covers a substantial 154,426 hectares.

Human-Induced Regeneration projects involve establishing permanent native forests by actively removing or managing threats that have suppressed native vegetation growth for at least 10 years. The standard requirements dictate that landholders must change their land management practices to allow in-situ seed sources, rootstock, and lignotubers to naturally regenerate and ultimately achieve a forest cover of trees at least 2 metres tall with a minimum 20% canopy cover. For this specific project, the core activities include managing the timing and extent of livestock grazing, as well as the humane management of feral animals.

The Shark Bay and wider rangelands region is heavily utilized for pastoral operations, predominantly large-scale sheep and cattle grazing on leasehold land. The environment is classified as semi-arid, experiencing low and highly irregular annual rainfall. The typical soil profiles in this region consist of red sandy earths, shallow loams, and clayey sands, which naturally support hardy vegetation like Acacia shrublands (such as Mulga) and saltbush.

An interesting note about this project is its inclusion in the broader "Western Australia Rangelands Conservation Initiative" managed by Terra Carbon Pty Limited. This aggregated portfolio approach groups multiple properties to facilitate large-scale conservation across the Western Australian rangelands. Additionally, the project underwent area variations in September 2023 and July 2026, where parts of the registered project area were amended and removed. This is a common administrative occurrence in HIR projects following "gateway checks" to refine the carbon estimation areas, formally excluding land that is deemed unlikely to achieve the required permanent forest cover.