Wilgena and North Well Stations

Wilgena and North Well Stations is a Human-Induced Regeneration project located on the expansive pastoral leases surrounding the historic railway town of Tarcoola, approximately 350km northwest of Port Augusta in South Australia. It was registered in March 2023 and covers a massive 811,300.81 hectares.

Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) projects involve establishing permanent, even-aged native forests by facilitating assisted regeneration from in-situ seed sources, such as rootstock and lignotubers. This methodology is applied to land that was previously cleared of vegetation and where natural regrowth was suppressed for at least 10 years prior to the project's commencement. Standard requirements dictate that the project must suppress limiting factors; in this case, the proponent is actively managing the timing and extent of livestock grazing to allow the native forest to recover.

The Tarcoola region is heavily utilised for remote outback pastoral leasing, specifically grazing merino sheep for wool and meat. The area is considered a harsh arid environment, experiencing very low and unpredictable rainfall averaging less than 175mm per year. The soils are reasonably fertile but largely consist of sandy loams and quartzites over ancient basement rock, which naturally support saltbush, mulga, and native shrublands.

The Wilgena property has a rich outback history and was once renowned as the largest totally fenced sheep run in the world. It is so vast that the Trans-Australian Railway line runs right through it. Interestingly, the northern portion of the Wilgena property falls within the Woomera Prohibited Area, an active military testing range where pastoral outstations have bomb shelters located near their residences. Additionally, in December 2025, a variation was made to the project footprint, officially removing specific areas from the original project boundary.