Four Corners Regeneration Project

Four Corners Regeneration Project is a Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) project located approximately 26km west of Nymagee and 89km south of Cobar in central-western New South Wales. It was registered in March 2023 and covers an expansive 8,479.31 hectares.

Human-Induced Regeneration projects establish permanent native forests by changing land management practices to allow native vegetation to regenerate. Standard requirements involve suppressing degrading activities, such as managing livestock, controlling feral animals, or ceasing mechanical clearing, to ensure the regenerating trees can achieve native forest cover, typically defined as reaching at least 20% canopy cover and a minimum height of two metres.

The Nymagee and Cobar region is characterised by a semi-arid climate with generally low rainfall. The landscape predominantly features red earths, sandy loams, and areas of skeletal gravelly soils on rocky ridges. Regional land use is primarily pastoralism, focusing on sheep and cattle grazing on large pastoral stations, alongside a long and rich history of copper and gold mining operations.

This project establishes permanent native forests through assisted regeneration from in-situ seed sources, including rootstock and lignotubers, on land that was previously cleared and where regrowth had been suppressed for at least 10 years prior to the project commencing. To facilitate this recovery, the proponents are undertaking the humane management of feral animals to reduce grazing pressure. As an interesting additional note, the project proponents secured an Optional Delivery carbon abatement contract (CAC768316) during the Clean Energy Regulator's March 2023 auction, committing an original volume of 47,208 ACCUs to the Commonwealth over a 10-year delivery period.