First Plantation Forestry Project – Forico

First Plantation Forestry Project – Forico

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.

Client
Forico

Location
Launceston, NSW

Dates
2018 – 2043

Industry
Timber

Services
Project registration, ACCU Scheme agent, tree measurement, reporting

Key benefits

First registration and Carbon Abatement Contract under the Plantation Forestry method

Ten years of secured revenue from ACCU sales

>68,000 tCO2e abatement

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Carbon Estate Project – Murrin Bridge Local Aboriginal Land Council

Carbon Estate Project – Murrin Bridge Local Aboriginal Land Council

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

Dates
2010 – 2035

Industry
Carbon, Aboriginal Land Council

Services
Project registration, management, tree measurement, reporting, land management

Key benefits

Employment and revenue generation for Traditional Owners

220 ha of degraded land revegetated to forest

25 years of land management and conservation

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Carbon Insetting – Tahbilk Winery

Carbon Insetting – Tahbilk Winery

Carbon Insetting – Tahbilk Winery

CO2 Australia and Tahbilk Winery have a long-standing relationship, beginning in 2012 when CO2 Australia assisted with the establishment of baselines and forecasts of carbon storage of revegetation activities on their property.

CO2 Australia developed a bespoke tree measurement method in 2018 for calculating carbon stock within Tahbilk’s landholdings. Our successful collaboration led to certification of their winery with the data accounted for by insetting to obtain certification under the Toitū Net Carbonzero Certification Programme. This programme supports organisations to measure their greenhouse gas emissions and implement strategies to manage, reduce and offset impacts.

Certification was again achieved following monitoring by CO2 Australia in 2023. Tahbilk is well-renowned within the Australian wine community for its sustainability initiatives and is one of the longest standing wine families in Victoria.

Client
Tahbilk Winery

Location
Goulburn Valley

Dates
2018, 2023

Industry
Wine

Services
Carbon measurement and reporting

Key benefits

Development of bespoke tree measurement method for calculating carbon stock

Successful certification under the Toitū Net Carbonzero Certification Programme

Setting sustainability standards in the wine industry

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Australia’s Largest Carbon Estate – Woodside

Australia’s Largest Carbon Estate – Woodside

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.

Client
Woodside Petroleum

Location
Regional WA and NSW

Dates
2008 – 2058

Industry
Resources

Services
Land acquisition and management, planting, tree monitoring, ACCU Scheme agent, reporting

Key benefits

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

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Wilga Park Project – LRF/Accounting For Nature®

Wilga Park Project – LRF/Accounting For Nature®

Wilga Park Project – LRF/Accounting For Nature®

The Restoring Box-Gum Grassy Woodland for Threatened Species of the Nandewar Bioregion (Wilga Park) Project is a 25-year, $1.96 million collaboration between the Queensland Government and CO2 Australia to deliver approximately 110 ha of degraded land restored to a natural functioning ecosystem; providing habitat for threatened species, landscape connectivity and climate resilience.

Revegetation areas will 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 Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth; EPBC Act).

Importantly, the Environmental Account area will contribute to filling in previously cleared areas associated with more productive lowland soils; connecting with extensive areas of upland remnant vegetation communities adjacent the project area. Ongoing quarterly biodiversity surveys undertaken on the property since 2017 by CO2 Australia ecologists have confirmed the presence of a number of threatened species listed under the Nature Conservation Act 1992 (Qld) and/or the EPBC Act, including squatter pigeon, painted honeyeater, hooded robin, brown treecreeper, diamond firetail, southern whiteface and Crane’s macrozamia. There are also confirmed recent records of other threatened species on the property, including the spot-tailed quoll.

The goal of the Environmental Account is to monitor and track improvement in biodiversity co-benefits associated with the restoration project through the calculation of Native Vegetation Econd®. Ongoing monitoring of the Account will be undertaken to help inform management decisions, including Econd® surveys by CO2 Australia ecologists in accordance with the accredited CO2 Australia Native Vegetation Condition Monitoring Method.  Other activities include monitoring and control of weeds, and the assessment of fire breaks and fuel loads to reduced likelihood of wildfire events impacting on the success of the planting sites and surrounding intact remnant vegetation. Further opportunities to improve biodiversity co-benefits of the project will continue to be explored for the life of the project, based on the outcomes of Econd® assessments.

Client
Accounting for Nature®, BirdLife Australia, Queensland Land Restoration Fund

Location
Southern Queensland

Dates
2017 – present

Industry
Government, conservation

Services
Revegetation, environmental accounting, fauna surveys and monitoring

Key benefits

Restoration of a critically endangered ecological community

Improving habitat for threatened species, landscape connectivity and climate resilience

Leading innovation and progress in environmental accounting

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Project Lift Offset Delivery & Management – Gold Coast Airport

Project Lift Offset Delivery & Management – Gold Coast Airport

Project Lift Offset Delivery & Management – Gold Coast Airport

CO2 Australia has a long history of successful collaboration with Gold Coast Airport, having been engaged since 2015 to support the development of approvals documentation, management plans and offset monitoring for Project LIFT.   

Project LIFT involved the expansion of the existing terminal building and apron, located in Coolangatta; straddling the border of Queensland (QLD) and New South Wales (NSW). CO2 Australia was engaged to develop and deliver the offset program in order to acquit the project’s offset requirements. This involved determining offset requirements under Commonwealth, QLD and NSW offset frameworks.   

Having established that offsets were only required under the EPBC Act Environmental Offsets Policy, we used our compliant offset GIS database to identify potentially suitable offset properties in NSW. A comprehensive offset strategy and package was developed and approved by the Commonwealth Government.   

CO2 Australia has subsequently been engaged by Gold Coast Airport to implement the strategy, which included landholder engagement, preparation of offset access agreements, field verification of offsets (incorporating the now superseded NSW BioBanking Assessment Methodology) and development of offset area management plans. CO2 Australia successfully gained approval of these plans by the Commonwealth Government, with CO2 Australia continuing to engage with Gold Coast Airport to manage and monitor the offset areas across several years.  

Client
Gold Coast Airport, Queensland Airports Limited

Location
SEQ, northern NSW

Dates
2015 – present

Industry
Transportation

Services
Offset documentation, delivery, management and monitoring

Key benefits

Offsets assessed under QLD, NSW and Commonwealth offset frameworks

Trusted provider of both advisory and field-based works over almost a decade

Balancing growing industry needs with environmental stewardship

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