Comarto Station Vegetation and Wetland Revival Project

Comarto Station Vegetation and Wetland Revival Project is a Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) project located at Comarto Station, approximately 60km west of Wilcannia in the Far West region of New South Wales. Registered in September 2023, the project covers a substantial area of 56,438 hectares. The property is situated within the Central Darling Shire, a region traditionally defined by extensive rangeland grazing for sheep and cattle, and is historically significant as it once formed part of the massive Weinteriga Station owned by the Kidman family.

The project operates under the Human-Induced Regeneration methodology, which involves establishing permanent native forests by suppressing activities that previously prevented regrowth. For this project, the primary activity is the management of the timing and extent of grazing. By controlling livestock pressure, the proponents aim to allow native vegetation to regenerate from in-situ seed sources, such as rootstock and lignotubers, on land where regrowth had been suppressed for at least a decade.

The environment at Comarto is typical of the semi-arid NSW Outback, characterized by low and variable rainfall. The landscape is a mix of open plains and "flood-out" country, featuring soils that range from red sandy loams on the tablelands to clay soils in the lower areas. The property benefits from creek systems, such as Grasmere Creek, which can flood the plains and support rich pastures including native lucerne, lignum, cotton bush, and saltbush. The "Wetland Revival" component of the project name references these ephemeral hydrological features that are crucial for biodiversity in the arid landscape.

This project is developed by Climate Revive Pty Ltd in conjunction with Corporate Carbon Advisory. Climate Revive, a subsidiary of Powerhouse Ventures, focuses on "reviving" cattle stations by integrating carbon farming with regenerative agriculture. Comarto Station itself was sold in 2018 for roughly $8.4 million before transitioning into this carbon initiative, highlighting the increasing shift in land value attribution towards natural capital and ecosystem services in the Australian rangelands.