Merrinee 1, Stage 2 planting project

Merrinee 1, Stage 2 planting project is an environmental planting project located at Merrinee, situated approximately 40km southwest of the regional city of Mildura in the Mallee region of Victoria. It was registered on May 4, 2026, and covers a project area of 1168.93 hectares.

Environmental planting projects involve establishing and maintaining permanent native forests to sequester carbon, generally requiring trees to be planted at a stocking density of at least 200 stems per hectare to achieve a mature forest cover. The methodology mandates that the chosen species mix reflects the structure and composition of the local native vegetation community.

The Mildura and broader Mallee region is historically known for dryland broadacre farming, including wheat, barley, and sheep grazing, as well as irrigated fruit and nut horticulture near the Murray River. The environment is considered semi-arid, experiencing low and highly variable average annual rainfall of approximately 240mm to 300mm. Soils in the region are predominantly highly variable sandy soils, sandy loams, and red sodosols, often existing within undulating dune-swale complexes.

Project activities involve establishing a permanent mixed-species environmental planting using native tree and shrub species local to the area. Interestingly, the broader 2,742-hectare Merrinee property was originally cleared mechanically around 1920 during Australia's soldier settlement scheme following the First World War. The original native 'Mallee' roots were pulled out and sold for firewood, and the land was subsequently used for decades for cropping and sheep grazing. Today, the project proponent, Land Life Company Australia Pty Ltd, is actively engaging with the Millewa-Mallee First Peoples, the Traditional Owners of the land, to incorporate their 60,000 years of knowledge in sustainability and resilience into the site's ongoing ecological restoration.