- supporting the Indigenous Carbon Industry Network to lead key industry events and develop resources that help Indigenous organisations to participate in the carbon industry
- supporting Regen Farmers Mutual Limited to explore the potential for multi-property ‘landscape-scale’ projects in the Traprock Region through landholder education, outreach and upskilling
- partnering with NRM Regions Queensland and Queensland Farmers’ Federation to deliver carbon farming workshops and webinars to Queensland landholders and industry
- funding NRM Regions Queensland and Queensland Farmers’ Federation to deliver the Queensland Carbon Farming Community of Practice, where experts share knowledge and learnings around carbon projects with NRM and Landcare managers
- supporting landholders to access up to $10,000 worth of carbon farming advice tailored to their property and circumstances through the Carbon Farming Advice Scheme
- working with CSIRO to develop the LOOC-C tool to allow Queensland landholders to assess their property for co-benefits available through the LRF
- building a network of LRF Approved Advisers from a range of professions across Queensland that can support landholders with carbon farming advice
- funding the Carbon Market Institute to deliver training and capacity building within the finance and professional services sectors to support uptake of carbon farming in Queensland
- supporting the development and implementation of the Australian Carbon Industry Code of Conduct.
Market Support
The Land Restoration Fund (LRF) market support program is growing carbon and other environmental markets in Queensland by investing in research, development and capacity building projects. The LRF’s market support program is complementary, but separate, to its commercial (Land Restoration Fund Trust) investments. More information on the LRF’s commercial investments in carbon farming projects can be found on the LRF Register.
Organisations wishing to discuss opportunities to deliver projects funded through the LRF’s market support program should contact CarbonFarming@des.qld.gov.au
The Market Support program
Queensland’s large land mass, long coastlines and diverse ecology provide a natural advantage for carbon farming. The LRF funds market support activities that help Queensland landholders harness these advantages to participate in projects that deliver benefits over and above carbon sequestration and align with the strategic priorities of the LRF:
- Land restoration to improve the health of wetlands and coastal ecosystems, including the Great Barrier Reef
- Land restoration for threatened species and ecosystems
- Land restoration for social and economic sustainability.
Priority outcomes for investment
The LRF has two key priority outcomes for its Market Support program:
- Increase landholder participation in carbon and other environmental markets, and
- Support innovation in natural capital.
Organisations seeking investment through the LRF market support program must deliver projects that achieve at least one of these outcomes.
Priority Outcome 1 – Increase landholder participation in carbon and other environmental markets
Queensland landholders, including farmers and First Nations peoples, are supported to participate in environmental markets through:
- Landholder outreach – Engagement, education, tools and resources that support Queensland landholders to participate in environmental markets projects, such as carbon farming.
- First Nations capacity building – Projects that increase the capacity of Queensland First Nations peoples to determine and lead their involvement in environmental markets projects.
Priority Outcome 2: Support innovation in natural capital
The LRF invests to advance our knowledge of Queensland’s natural capital assets and support carbon and other environmental markets through:
- Research, Development and Innovation – Projects that drive innovation, and address barriers to participation in carbon + co-benefits and other environmental markets in Queensland.
- Method development – Projects that advance the design, development and piloting of high integrity terrestrial and aquatic carbon, co-benefit and nature repair methods and tools that can realise significant carbon abatement, co-benefit and biodiversity opportunities for Queensland, including through blue carbon.
- supporting the development and piloting of a Cassowary Credits biodiversity credit scheme to facilitate investment in large-scale rainforest restoration in North Queensland
- funding innovative work by the University of Queensland to develop metrics to measure the condition of bird communities, with plans to extend the methodology to other fauna groups
- engaging brokers to commence delivery of the innovative Reef Credit Fund supporting the delivery of on-ground Reef Credit projects and stimulating the Reef Credit market, driving a market for farmers to reduce nutrient or sediment flowing to the Great Barrier Reef
- collaborating with the Great Barrier Reef Foundation to facilitate blue carbon projects in Great Barrier Reef catchments
- working with Queensland Trust for Nature to trial approaches to integrate carbon farming into koala habitat restoration in Southeast Queensland
- supporting the development of new and improved carbon methods to increase opportunities to participate in the carbon market and ensure the integrity of carbon abatement claims
- supporting a trial blue carbon project in the Blue Heart Sunshine Coast, including key research to identify and measure carbon abatement and co-benefits through re-establishing blue carbon ecosystems.
Carbon method development
The LRF supports the development of new carbon methods under the Australian Government’s ACCU Scheme that allow more Queensland landholders to participate in the carbon market.
In late 2024, the Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee approved the Queensland Government to lead development of an Improved Avoided Clearing of Native Regrowth (IACNR) carbon farming method. The method will focus on improving eligibility for landholders by taking a more practical approach to demonstrating risk of re-clearing.
- identifying new carbon methods that provide opportunities for significant carbon abatement and co-benefits to contribute to the Queensland Government’s objectives for emissions reduction and land restoration
- participating in the co-design of new methods developed by the Australian Government (such as the first blue carbon method for Australia that was released in January 2022)
- participating in consultation on the review and re-make of existing methods by the Clean Energy Regulator (such as the re-make of the Reforestation by environmental or mallee plantings FullCAM method released in November 2024)
- developing methods prioritised by the Australian Government for development under the proponent-led method development process (such as the Improved Avoided Clearing of Native Regrowth method being developed by the LRF)
- supporting the development of new methods by others under the proponent-led method development process.