Tolarno Station

Tolarno Station is a Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) carbon project located approximately 50 kilometers south of Menindee in the Lower Darling region of New South Wales. Registered in September 2021, the project covers an expansive area of 98,383 hectares along the Darling (Baaka) River. The property is a historic pastoral station that has operated since the mid-19th century and is currently owned by the McBride family, who are well-known advocates for river health and water management in the Murray-Darling Basin.

The project operates under the Human-Induced Regeneration methodology, which differs from tree planting. Instead of planting seedlings, this method encourages the natural regrowth of native forest from existing soil seed banks and suppressed rootstock. To achieve this, the project managers actively manage "suppressors", primarily by controlling the timing and extent of livestock grazing and managing feral animals (such as goats) to allow native vegetation to recover and reach forest cover status.

The region is characterized by a semi-arid climate with low and highly variable rainfall, typically averaging between 200mm and 250mm annually. The landscape is defined by the Darling River floodplain, featuring heavy grey clay soils (vertosols) that support Black Box and Coolibah trees, transitioning into red sandy loams and dunefields further inland which support rangeland species like saltbush, bluebush, and various acacias. The project proponent, AI Carbon Projects No 3 Pty Ltd, is a special purpose vehicle associated with Australian Integrated Carbon, an aggregator that manages the carbon farming aspects alongside the station's traditional wool and livestock operations.