News Archives - CO2 Australia

CO2 Australia’s fourth Environmental Account under the Accounting for Nature® Framework

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.

Another completed offset by CO2 Australia!

by CO2 Australia | Feb 27, 2024 | News

CO2 Australia is proud to announce the completion of another successful offset project. This offset is located in Victoria Point, Queensland, with the purpose of revegetating an endangered Regional Ecosystem as well as essential habitat for koalas.

The project began in 2010 to offset vegetation that was cleared for an assisted-living housing expansion. Over the past decade, CO2 Australia has been involved in the establishment, management and monitoring of the offset area. CO2 Australia also authored annual reports to summarise the photo monitoring and BioCondition assessments undertaken across the offset to track progress and improvements of the vegetation. As of 2023, the vegetation now meets the criteria to be mapped as remnant (non-degraded) under the Vegetation Management Act 2009 (Qld).

Although only 2.06 hectares, this offset provides both essential koala habitat as well as important ecological connectivity between existing vegetation in the area. This connectivity extends the remnant vegetation along Eprapah Creek into protected areas including Point Halloran Conservation Area, providing a contiguous corridor for wildlife to move through. Just prior to its completion, presence of koala was confirmed within the offset area!

CO2 Australia has two decades of experience delivering biodiversity offsets under State and Commonwealth frameworks. We are one of the few companies that can offer end-to-end offset services, from the development of offset strategies right through to securing and managing the offset to completion. If you would like to find out more about how CO2 Australia can help you deliver your project’s offset requirements, or are a landholder interested in offsets as an additional source of revenue, submit an enquiry through our website or contact us at [email protected].

Wilga Park Project: CO2 Australia’s third Environmental Account certified

by CO2 Australia | Oct 17, 2023 | News

CO2 Australia’s Accounting for Nature® portfolio now boasts three ‘certified by independent audit’ Environmental Accounts with the official certification of the Restoring box-gum grassy woodland for threatened species of the Nandewar Bioregion (Wilga Park) Project on the 17th October 2023.

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.

Project Spotlight: Mulga Lands Regrowth

by CO2 Australia | Jul 6, 2023 | News

Mulga trees (Acacia aneura), which form woodlands and shrublands with endemic shrubs and eucalypt trees, dominate an important ecosystem within western Queensland, aptly named ‘the Mulga Lands’.

Mulga have adapted to the sparse rainfall and hot climates of the region and form vast forests across the landscape.

Over time, mulga forests have been cleared both for pastures and for direct use as livestock fodder. When these pressures are removed, mulga regrowth from both seeding and resprouting is vigorous, and revegetation occurs on a grand scale that cannot be matched by new plantings.

Regenerated forest cover across the Mulga Lands improves the functional ecosystem boundaries between central arid-deserts and wooded ecosystems of Australia’s east coast. This provides continuous habitat and food for iconic Australian wildlife like arid-adapted woodland birds, reptiles, and echidnas.

Sequestering carbon in these vast mulga woodlands reduces atmospheric carbon dioxide and helps to mitigate increasing global temperatures, making this activity an important contribution to Australia’s emissions reduction goals. For Australia’s farmers and landholders, changing their management to allow forest regrowth also presents an alternative income stream in the carbon market.

For our projects, regular measurements taken on ground and analysis of strategic spatial data and imagery provide evidence of regrowth to meet rigorous scientific standards. This progress is verified by the Clean Energy Regulator and third-party auditors. Carbon credits are then issued based on CSIRO modelling of pre-clearing vegetation communities and local environmental factors.

Mulga Land regrowth projects sit alongside our ongoing legacy of new plantings, forestry management, biodiversity protection and environmental accounting projects. For more information on carbon sequestration and how you may be able to participate in the Australian carbon market, contact us!

Wivenhoe environmental account: certified!

by CO2 Australia | Dec 13, 2021 | News

We at CO2 Australia are incredibly proud to have Australia’s first ever environmental account, certified by Accounting for Nature Ltd!

The third-party certification underpinning our Lake Wivenhoe revegetation project is recognised as applying the most scientifically credible and trusted environmental accounting standards in the world. Today marks an exciting new chapter in Australia, as environmental accounting drives better investment, policy and management decisions in natural capital.

CO2 Australia’s project involved the planting of more than 150,000 trees across seven sites adjacent to Lake Wivenhoe in south-east Queensland. The planting sites, which were initially identified by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-Australia), are within an important koala habitat corridor in south-east Queensland. At least 90% of the trees planted will be species that provide habitat for the koala. This will increase the amount and quality of habitat for the koala in the corridor and provide connectivity between existing areas of habitat. The project will also reduce the amount of sediment runoff entering Lake Wivenhoe, thereby improving water quality in south-east Queensland’s largest water storage.

CO2 Australia applied an Accounting for Nature® Accredited Method to monitor and track improvement in biodiversity co-benefits associated with the project through the calculation of Native Vegetation Econds®. The Accredited Method applied was developed and trialled by CO2 Australia over 18 months, and following certification by the Accounting for Nature® Standards and Accreditation Committee, was one of the first certified national native vegetation condition assessment methodologies. To gain certification, CO2 Australia undertook a rigorous third-party verification process to ensure its project complied with the Accounting for Nature® Framework – this project is now formally recognised as the first environmental account in Australia, applying the most scientifically credible and trusted environmental accounting standard in the world.