Pilot projects

This project found that a total of 256 million tonnes of CO²e could be sequestered through techniques such as reinstating tidal exchange and removing tidal barriers in ~90,000 ha throughout Great Barrier Reef catchments.

A map of current Queensland blue carbon stocks was created, information which is critical for informing potential future investment in blue carbon projects through the Land Restoration Fund.

Two scientific papers were published from this project:

1. Current and future carbon stocks in coastal wetlands within the Great Barrier Reef catchments
2. Modelling blue carbon farming opportunities at different spatial scales

The Herd Efficiency Aggregation (HEA) Model would enable many landholders with smaller herds to access the Australian carbon market via the Beef Cattle Herd Management method. Previously, these projects were priced-out due to high administrative and compliance fees associated with market participation and producers had to have a minimum of approximately 50,000 head to participate. The HEA model investigated the feasibility of reducing individual herd sizes to as little as 1,000 head (forming an aggregated herd of no less than 100,000 head).

The potential for carbon abatement using the Savanna Burning Methodology is not financially viable for the entire Normanby Catchment. This project used spatial analysis to suggest areas where an aggregated carbon project with co-benefits in the catchment was worth further investigation. An aggregated savannah burning project would allow greater participation in carbon farming, however the cost and feasibility of coordinating multiple entities poses a challenge.

Engagement meetings and workshops were held to increase knowledge of carbon farming within the Indigenous land management groups in the Normanby Catchment. Accredited fire training was also provided for Rinyirru Aboriginal Corporation and Melsonby Rangers to be able to undertake fire management activities (including cultural burning) in Cape York Peninsula Aboriginal Land National Parks (CYPAL NP). The intent of these activities was to grow capacity and to better understand the barriers to delivering aggregated carbon projects in the region.

Preliminary research suggests there is demand for a biodiversity-focused credit for the Wet Tropics that can be ‘stacked’ with other natural capital credit schemes (i.e., Reef Credits and ACCUs). The Cassowary Credit would be based on a standardised rainforest land assessment framework which measures improvement in rainforest condition.

It is hoped this would encourage investment into rainforest rehabilitation which is generally more expensive relative to other land types. Further research is underway to continue development and testing of this scheme.

The HIR method (now sunsetted) offered opportunities for beef producers to diversify their enterprises, receive drought-proof income, get a comparable return on assets/investment to their existing enterprises and add value to their portfolio.

Recommendations made from this analysis aimed at increasing participation of beef producers in carbon farming by addressing the financial (management and monitoring) and opportunity costs to undertaking carbon projects.

In addition, quantitative analysis was carried out to determine the relationship between tree cover and productivity on grazing land.

An analysis of the additional ACCUs that could be available through more effective fire management across CYP was conducted, including identification of locations providing greatest potential for emission reduction and areas where projects could be made economical through regional co-operation. An ACCUs forecasting tool was developed that assessed the benefits of existing and prospective savannah burning projects in CYP.

Optimisation strategies were identified to increase ACCUs on two project areas (Merepah Station and Wik Lands). A workshop was conducted to seek input on the analysis involving CSIRO, APN, ILSC, Natural Carbon and Balkanu.

This project contributed to the development of the Tidal Restoration of Blue Carbon Ecosystems Method (2022) under the ACCU Scheme.

The project learnings contributed to greater understanding of impediments and solutions to coastal wetland restoration, which have been published in a range of reports and manuscripts and have led to ongoing work on facilitating coastal wetland restoration.

This project catalysed a collaboration between GreenCollar, WWF and QTFN to develop the Accounting for Nature (AfN) Koala Population and Habitat Condition Method, which was approved and registered on 14 December 2021. It highlighted the significant time and resources required to develop a methodology, which will enable effective planning of resources for future projects.

QTFN’s engagement with Firesticks Alliance and Wirrinyah Conservation Services has fostered ongoing collaboration and the development of the QTFN Wirrinyah Partnership Statement. This partnership is delivering economic benefits to the community through the use of local labour contractors for weed management and other maintenance activities.

Ground-truthing ultimately revealed that the land did not meet HIR method eligibility requirements under the ACCU Scheme making the carbon project unviable.