We have here Koolawarra,
which is 394 hectares, approximately 13 km west of Henty.
And our rainfall, average rainfall is about 400 to 450 ml
Living Carbon is a grants program being delivered through PIPAP.
It provides landholders with financial assistance
with the aim of creating carbon plantings
that will also provide habitat for threatened local species.
So it's been cropped for quite a while and we've had soil sampling done
and realized that you know, that's produced a few problems
and the yields are perhaps not as good as they have been.
And that's the reason we decided really it was a good time to transition
into this more diverse cultivation of the property.
So the planting and then the grazing with the soil carbon project around it.
Virginia Leach was one of the first landholders
in the Riverina to successfully receive a living carbon grant
and we're really excited to see her project get underway.
So we've decided to choose four sites that we can put
approximately 30 hectares of boxgum grassy woodland into.
An environmental planting is a registered
method under the Clean Energy Regulators ACCU scheme.
It involves planting a mixture of native trees and shrubs,
with the aim of establishing a new and permanent forest cover.
On this property we're looking at a 30 hectare carbon planting.
We're going to establish that using two methods.
So we're going to be direct seeding a range of acacia species, over
eight species as well as some Dodonaea or some hot bush, and then in conjunction
with that, to support that direct seeding, which is where we sow the seeds
directly into the ground with a direct seeding machine,
will be doing some tube stock planting.
So the tube stock will be concentrating on the eucalypt species
or the larger overstory species of the site, and that'll allow us
to strategically place them throughout the site to get good spacings.
Projects like Virginia's are registered with the Clean Energy Regulator
to generate carbon credits, which are also known
as ACCUs or Australian Carbon Credit units.
For every tonne of carbon dioxide stored
in the planting The landholder will receive one ACCU.
The landholder can choose to sell the ACCUs
through the carbon market for an added income stream, or they can choose
to hold on to them and contribute them to their farms carbon neutral status.
So Living Carbon aims to demonstrate that carbon plantings can also have
a biodiversity eco benefit which may in turn add value to the price of the ACCUs
This land has been cropped for a really long time, hence
there's not a lot of trees left and cattle particularly,
grazing properties, benefit from the shade, the shelter from the wind.
And these plantings should provide really well that shade and that shelter.
So Riverina Local Land Services is an onground support partner
in the Living Carbon Project.
We provide technical assistance to landholders
so we can help with things like mapping and project design
applying for your grant and the monitoring and reporting requirements.
So as part of the Living Carbon Project,
the project will be registered with accounting for nature
and an environmental account will be developed
to help monitor the biodiversity of the project.
Certainly my experience has been that there has been
a lot of support and a lot of help and I'm really grateful for that.
Yeah, look, this is very exciting for us.
The size and the scale of the carbon plantings is a really exciting thing,
particularly the added benefit
of the corridors that it's creating along the riparian areas on the property.
So yeah, I can't wait to come back in five years time and see how it looks.
So at the moment I'm feeling like I'm really winning
and it's a nice feeling.
