Associate Professor (Honorary) Cris Brack, a forestry expert from the Australian National University, has completed his sixth review of human-induced regeneration (HIR) gateway checks.
Regeneration checks require proponents to demonstrate at 5-yearly intervals that regenerating vegetation within their project’s carbon estimation areas is increasing in canopy cover against relevant thresholds.
Assoc Prof Brack reviews an additional 10 projects in this report, bringing the total number of independently reviewed projects to 95 since 2023.
The latest report re-affirms that independent audits and our assessment processes provide strong assurance that HIR projects are being managed in line with legislative requirements.
The report also finds that:
- appropriate methods have been used by the proponents or their agents in classifying their carbon estimation area and confirming regeneration canopy cover is meeting threshold levels
- minor areas flagged by ecologists and foresters during expanded audits appear to be within the guidelines for stratification accuracy but are required to be reviewed and potentially removed before the next reporting period
- our reviews continue to use appropriate and varied data sources, including national-scale models, to check whether regeneration thresholds at relevant scales are being met.
This report adds to the series of independent reviews of the HIR gateway checks, which began in 2023.
