Another completed offset by CO2 Australia!

Another completed offset by CO2 Australia!

by | Feb 27, 2024 | News

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].

Project Spotlight: Mulga Lands Regrowth

Project Spotlight: Mulga Lands Regrowth

by | Jul 6, 2023 | News

Mulga trees (Acacia aneura), which form woodlands and shrublands with endemic shrubs and eucalypt trees, dominate an important ecosystem within western Queensland, aptly named ‘the Mulga Lands’.

Mulga have adapted to the sparse rainfall and hot climates of the region and form vast forests across the landscape.

Over time, mulga forests have been cleared both for pastures and for direct use as livestock fodder. When these pressures are removed, mulga regrowth from both seeding and resprouting is vigorous, and revegetation occurs on a grand scale that cannot be matched by new plantings.

Regenerated forest cover across the Mulga Lands improves the functional ecosystem boundaries between central arid-deserts and wooded ecosystems of Australia’s east coast. This provides continuous habitat and food for iconic Australian wildlife like arid-adapted woodland birds, reptiles, and echidnas.

Sequestering carbon in these vast mulga woodlands reduces atmospheric carbon dioxide and helps to mitigate increasing global temperatures, making this activity an important contribution to Australia’s emissions reduction goals. For Australia’s farmers and landholders, changing their management to allow forest regrowth also presents an alternative income stream in the carbon market.

For our projects, regular measurements taken on ground and analysis of strategic spatial data and imagery provide evidence of regrowth to meet rigorous scientific standards. This progress is verified by the Clean Energy Regulator and third-party auditors. Carbon credits are then issued based on CSIRO modelling of pre-clearing vegetation communities and local environmental factors.

Mulga Land regrowth projects sit alongside our ongoing legacy of new plantings, forestry management, biodiversity protection and environmental accounting projects. For more information on carbon sequestration and how you may be able to participate in the Australian carbon market, contact us!

 

Wivenhoe environmental account: certified!

Wivenhoe environmental account: certified!

by | Dec 13, 2021 | News

We at CO2 Australia are incredibly proud to have Australia’s first ever environmental account, certified by Accounting for Nature Ltd!

The third-party certification underpinning our Lake Wivenhoe revegetation project is recognised as applying the most scientifically credible and trusted environmental accounting standards in the world. Today marks an exciting new chapter in Australia, as environmental accounting drives better investment, policy and management decisions in natural capital.

CO2 Australia’s project involved the planting of more than 150,000 trees across seven sites adjacent to Lake Wivenhoe in south-east Queensland. The planting sites, which were initially identified by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-Australia), are within an important koala habitat corridor in south-east Queensland. At least 90% of the trees planted will be species that provide habitat for the koala. This will increase the amount and quality of habitat for the koala in the corridor and provide connectivity between existing areas of habitat. The project will also reduce the amount of sediment runoff entering Lake Wivenhoe, thereby improving water quality in south-east Queensland’s largest water storage.

CO2 Australia applied an Accounting for Nature® Accredited Method to monitor and track improvement in biodiversity co-benefits associated with the project through the calculation of Native Vegetation Econds®. The Accredited Method applied was developed and trialled by CO2 Australia over 18 months, and following certification by the Accounting for Nature® Standards and Accreditation Committee, was one of the first certified national native vegetation condition assessment methodologies. To gain certification, CO2 Australia undertook a rigorous third-party verification process to ensure its project complied with the Accounting for Nature® Framework – this project is now formally recognised as the first environmental account in Australia, applying the most scientifically credible and trusted environmental accounting standard in the world.