Great Eastern Wheatbelt Reforestation

Great Eastern Wheatbelt Reforestation is a mixed environmental and mallee planting project located across a vast stretch of the Great Eastern Wheatbelt in Western Australia, with its southernmost boundary beginning approximately 6 kilometres northeast of the major regional town of Merredin. It was registered on 25 September 2525 and covers an immense 103,892.67 hectares.

Environmental and mallee planting projects involve establishing permanent native trees and shrubs to sequester carbon. Under the Reforestation by Environmental or Mallee Plantings (FullCAM) methodology, these projects require planting species endemic to the local area at a sufficient stocking density and structure to achieve permanent forest cover. For mallee plantings specifically, it involves introducing native multi-stemmed eucalypt species adapted to local conditions.

The Great Eastern Wheatbelt region is heavily utilised for broadacre agriculture, predominantly dryland wheat cropping and sheep grazing. The environment features a semi-arid, Mediterranean climate characterised by low annual rainfall. Local soil profiles typically consist of sandy loams, lateritic gravels, and duplex soils (sand over clay).

The project aims to establish permanent plantings of a mix of native tree and shrub species that are directly local to the planting sites. The selected species mix is specifically designed to reflect the natural structure and composition of the pre-clearing native vegetation community. An interesting note is the sheer scale of the project: spanning over 1,000 square kilometres, it represents a massive landscape-scale restoration effort in an area that has been historically heavily cleared for agriculture. Additionally, registry records indicate the project’s proponent was varied on 17 July 2026, transitioning from Carbon Neutral Pty Ltd to Carbon Neutral Securities Pty Ltd as Trustee for the GEWR Project Trust.