Human Induced Regeneration

North west of Bourke in New South Wales, Lakemere Station has been under the care of Jim and Annabel Strachan since the early 1980’s.
The Strachans are well versed in land management, and understand that inhabiting such a dry and sparse landscape does not come without its hardships. Despite their best efforts, the combination of long-term grazing, drought, and feral animal suppression had taken a toll on regenerating vegetation across the landscape.

Since 1988, Peter and Edwina Ponder have lived at Emaroo Station, where they operate a successful grazing enterprise for Merino sheep and Hereford cattle. Situated some 200km west of Bourke, New South Wales, Emaroo is characterised by flat red sandy soils interspersed with sandy hills. For many years, native forests at Emaroo had been suppressed by the high grazing intensity of the livestock and limited feral animal control. But in 2019, the Ponders decided to make a change improving their land management practices as part of a Human Induced Regeneration (HIR) project.

In a competition between mulga and goats, the goats usually win, decimating young mulga saplings before they stand a chance. But this project has reset the balance, putting in place measures to control the feral goat population and allow young mulga to regenerate in this pocket of Western NSW.

North west of Bourke in New South Wales, Lincoln and Dimity Old have successfully combined carbon farming with livestock farming and seen the benefits flow through to their whole property.

Lantana Station sits roughly 150km south west of Charleville and was in poor condition when Carl and Judi Bain took over back in 2009. The land had been significantly overgrazed, so the Bains had work to do to bring it back to health to support their cattle grazing business.

Roughly 150km west of Bourke, NSW Goonery and Tringadee sit side by side across the undulating red sandy loam soils of the Mulga lands bioregion. Angelo Di Petta has run Goonery since 2004, and along with his business partner Richard Nielsen, has also run Tringadee since 2011.

Michelle and Jock Leishman always dreamt of having their own property in Western Queensland or New South Wales, so when they came across Aldville they could see their dream within reach.

West of Louth in New South Wales, Yathonga sits across three bioregions touching the Murray Darling Depression, Darling Riverine Plains and the Cobar Peneplain. Stuart Le Lievre and his family have been running a grazing enterprise across the land since 1862, so he’s very aware of the changing climate and the balance that needs to be struck between what you do and how the land copes or thrives.

The harsh dry country north west of Bourke isn’t for everyone, but Mark and Suzy Pritchard love the land and the organic animals they graze on it.