Flinders Aggregation Site #4

Flinders Aggregation Site #4 is a Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) carbon project located near the locality of Beltana in the Flinders Ranges region of South Australia. Situated approximately 40km south of Leigh Creek and 500km north of Adelaide, the project was registered in May 2023 and encompasses a massive area of over 61,130 hectares. The site sits within the Pastoral Unincorporated Area, a vast region of the state primarily consisting of Crown land leased for grazing purposes.

The project operates under the Human-Induced Regeneration methodology, which focuses on restoring native forests on land where vegetation growth has been suppressed for at least 10 years, typically by livestock or feral animals. Rather than planting new trees, the proponent manages these "suppressors", primarily by controlling the timing and extent of grazing and managing feral animals, to allow the existing soil seed bank and rootstock to regenerate naturally. The goal is to establish a permanent, even-aged native forest that sequesters carbon over a 25 or 100-year permanence period.

Ecologically, the site lies within the semi-arid to arid zone of the Flinders Ranges. The region is characterized by erratic rainfall, averaging between 200mm and 300mm annually, which supports vegetation ranging from chenopod shrublands to open woodlands of Mulga and River Red Gum along ephemeral watercourses. The soils in this area are typically skeletal on the ridges, transitioning to calcareous red earths and texture-contrast soils (red duplex) on the plains and valley floors. Land use in the surrounding area is almost exclusively extensive livestock grazing (sheep and cattle) and nature-based tourism.

An interesting aspect of this project is its proponent, Terra Carbon Pty Limited, which is a subsidiary of the GreenCollar Group, one of Australia’s largest environmental markets investors. The "Aggregation" in the project title suggests this site is part of a broader portfolio of properties in the region being managed collectively for carbon abatement, a strategy often used to streamline management across vast pastoral leases.