Catchment Conservation Alliance - Great Barrier Reef Initiative Site #19

Catchment Conservation Alliance - Great Barrier Reef Initiative Site #19 is a Human-Induced Regeneration project located approximately 40km west of Emerald near Anakie, in Queensland's Central Highlands region. It was registered in February 2022 and covers 4,318.51ha.

Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) projects involve establishing permanent native forests through assisted regeneration from in-situ seed sources, such as rootstock and lignotubers. This method is applied to land that was cleared of vegetation and where regrowth was suppressed for at least 10 years prior to the project commencing.

The Central Highlands and Anakie region is heavily utilized for cattle grazing, some agricultural cropping, and sapphire mining operations. The area experiences a semi-arid to subtropical climate with highly variable rainfall, averaging around 540mm annually, and the soils are generally a mix of cracking clays, basalt, and undulating red sandy loams.

To facilitate the recovery of the native forest on this land, the project activities include the cessation of mechanical or chemical destruction of regrowth, alongside the active management of the timing and extent of livestock grazing.

The project's proponent, Terra Carbon Pty Limited, is a subsidiary of GreenCollar, one of Australia's largest environmental market investors. Because the project sits within the broader Great Barrier Reef catchment area, the regeneration of this native forest not only sequesters carbon but also helps to improve water quality flowing into the reef ecosystem. Additionally, in February 2026, a variation was made to the project to remove certain areas from the initially listed boundary.