by CO2 Australia | Oct 9, 2024 | News
The Saltwater Creek Carbon Project
In September 2021, CO2 Australia achieved certification of Australia’s first Environmental Account by Accounting for Nature (AfN), with subsequent accounts certified in December 2022 and October 2023.
The Saltwater Creek Carbon project is a 25-year, $3.74 million collaboration between Queensland Government and CO2 Australia. Located in the Wet Tropics Bioregion of north Queensland, the project will re-establish approximately 55 hectares of tropical rainforest and eucalypt forest communities endemic to the region. This will involve incorporating 55 rainforest species into the plantings, which will result in improved connectivity between the property and the Mossman Gorge section of Daintree National Park which is part of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. Threatened species including the southern cassowary, spot-tailed quoll, common mistfrog and tapping green-eyed frog have been recorded in adjacent properties. This project will also restore habitat and facilitate the dispersal of these threatened species across the broader landscape.
Accredited Accounting for Nature® accredited experts alongside CO2 Australia’s ecologists Dr Cath Bowler and Dr Jarrad Cousin completed all the necessary fieldwork and reporting to support the Environmental Account. This was undertaken using CO2 Australia’s own AfN-accredited Native Vegetation Econd® method. Following a rigorous independent audit, the Environmental Account was certified by AfN in September 2024.
If you would like any assistance with establishing an Environmental Account under the Accounting for Nature® Framework, whether it be for a carbon planting project, grazing enterprise or to track the condition of a natural area estate, please feel free to contact CO2 Australia and we will help you on the path to accounting for nature.
by CO2 Australia | May 13, 2024 | Projects
First Plantation Forestry Project – Forico
In a first for the Australian plantation forestry sector, CO2 Australia assisted Forico to register a project using the Plantation Forestry method under the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme.
Acting as Forico’s ACCU Scheme agent, CO2 Australia has also secured the first Carbon Abatement Contract for a project of this type, locking in ten years of forward ACCU sales revenue for the project. The project will see Forico transform 630 hectares into a new project based on developing long-term pine plantations. In total, the project is expected to deliver up to 68,959 tonnes of CO2e abatement over ten years.
Services
Project registration, ACCU Scheme agent, tree measurement, reporting
First registration and Carbon Abatement Contract under the Plantation Forestry method
Ten years of secured revenue from ACCU sales
In a first for the Australian plantation forestry sector, CO2 Australia assisted Forico to register a...
In one of the first projects of its kind, CO2 Australia worked with the New South Wales (NSW) Aboriginal...
In 2008, Woodside Petroleum engaged CO2 Australia to deliver Australia’s biggest commercial emissions...
by CO2 Australia | May 10, 2024 | Projects
Carbon Estate Project – Murrin Bridge Local Aboriginal Land Council
In one of the first projects of its kind, CO2 Australia worked with the New South Wales (NSW) Aboriginal Local Land Council to revegetate 220 hectares of degraded land as part of a forest carbon project now returning revenues back to the Traditional Owners of the project land.
The project is located near the Murrin Bridge Aboriginal community, 320 kilometres south of Dubbo, NSW. Most of the Indigenous people at Murrin Bridge can trace their roots back to the Ngiyampaa and Barkindji tribes and the community is seen as a ‘Koori place’ rather than that of one particular tribal group. CO2 Australia employs Traditional Owners in the project monitoring for this and data collection for other projects in regional NSW.
Client
NSW Aboriginal Land Council
Location
Murrin Bridge, Lake Cargelligo, NSW
Industry
Carbon, Aboriginal Land Council
Services
Project registration, management, tree measurement, reporting, land management
Employment and revenue generation for Traditional Owners
220 ha of degraded land revegetated to forest
25 years of land management and conservation
In a first for the Australian plantation forestry sector, CO2 Australia assisted Forico to register a...
In one of the first projects of its kind, CO2 Australia worked with the New South Wales (NSW) Aboriginal...
In 2008, Woodside Petroleum engaged CO2 Australia to deliver Australia’s biggest commercial emissions...
by CO2 Australia | May 10, 2024 | Projects
Australia’s Largest Carbon Estate – Woodside
In 2008, Woodside Petroleum engaged CO2 Australia to deliver Australia’s biggest commercial emissions offset program based on dedicated carbon sink tree plantings.
This groundbreaking initiative pre-dated the Clean Energy Regulator and was the largest planting project of its kind ever undertaken within Australia. The project was a $100 million contract in which we delivered 20,000 hectares of tree plantings across Western Australia and New South Wales.
We act as the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme agent to Woodside and have successfully registered four ACCU Scheme projects in relation to this program. As agent, we manage all aspects of ACCU production over the 30-year lifetime of these carbon assets, and provide a range of advisory services to Woodside, including around ACCU delivery scheduling and delivery risk mitigation. CO2 Australia is contracted to manage these plantings for 50 years and we continue to monitor and measure their performance. This collaboration includes Indigenous employment opportunities for the tree measurement program, land management and landholder relationship management at the location of the tree plantings.
Location
Regional WA and NSW
Services
Land acquisition and management, planting, tree monitoring, ACCU Scheme agent, reporting
Over 20,000 ha of tree plantings across WA and NSW
Successful registration of four ACCU Scheme projects for this program
Indigenous stakeholder employment and benefits
In a first for the Australian plantation forestry sector, CO2 Australia assisted Forico to register a...
In one of the first projects of its kind, CO2 Australia worked with the New South Wales (NSW) Aboriginal...
In 2008, Woodside Petroleum engaged CO2 Australia to deliver Australia’s biggest commercial emissions...
by CO2 Australia | Oct 17, 2023 | News
Like our first two certified Environmental Accounts, this account is third-party verified with a Level 1 (Very High Confidence) assurance, and an Econd® accuracy of 95% for native vegetation (an Econd® score is an index that describes the environmental condition of an asset). Find out more about the Accounting for Nature® Framework here.
The Wilga Park Project is a 25-year, $1.96 million collaboration between the Queensland Government and CO2 Australia to deliver ~110 hectares of degraded land restored to a natural functioning ecosystem. Its purpose is to re-establish vegetation communities consistent with White Box – Yellow Box – Blakely’s Red Gum Grassy Woodland and Derived Native Grassland; a critically endangered Threatened Ecological Community under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. This will help connect extensive areas of remnant vegetation as well as reinstate and improve habitat for numerous threatened species of the Nandewar Bioregion including many already confirmed from the property such as squatter pigeon (Geophaps scripta scripta), painted honeyeater (Grantiella picta), hooded robin (Melanodryas cucullata) and spot-tailed quoll (Dasyurus maculatus maculatus).
The baseline condition of native vegetation within the project area was assessed in October and December 2022 and found to have an Econd® score of 33.1 (out of 100). This Econd® was calculated using CO2 Australia’s Native Vegetation Econd® Method; a sophisticated methodology developed by our own Dr Jarrad Cousin and certified by Accounting for Nature Ltd in 2020. Further opportunities to improve biodiversity co-benefits will continue to be explored for the life of the project, based on the outcomes of Econd® assessments. CO2 Australia will continue to undertake quarterly bird surveys throughout the property, including the environmental accounting area; continuing a 10-year commitment to monitor the efficacy of the revegetation efforts across the property.
