Academics from the ANU and UNSW have released summary results from an analysis of 192 human-induced regeneration (HIR) projects, using recently released carbon estimation area (CEA) data and the Carbon Integrity Explorer. The results of the analysis show that, across the 3.4 million hectares where even-aged native forests are supposedly regenerating, forest cover only increased by 1.6% to 2021. Net change in ‘tree cover’ (areas classified as either sparse woody or forest in the National Forest and Sparse Woody dataset) was -0.5%. Despite the lack of appreciable change in tree and forest cover, the projects received almost 25 million ACCUs to 2021.
The results confirm that most of the change that has occurred is likely to be attributable to seasonal variability rather than the project activities.
