Another completed offset by CO2 Australia!

Another completed offset by CO2 Australia!

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

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

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.