THE Palaszczuk Government has announced five new carbon farming projects to be funded by the Land Restoration Fund.
The new projects will see landholders generate new income via carbon credits created by capturing or reducing emissions in their vegetation and soils.
Environment Minister Meaghan Scanlon said the new projects would regenerate and expand threatened ecosystems, bring jobs and training to regional areas, and support Indigenous-led initiatives taking place on Indigenous land.
Ms Scanlon said the $11.5 million investment in the five new projects would provide long-term protection for more than 6000 hectares of land, with more projects under this round being finalised.
The five projects would see the LRF buy 120,000 Australian Carbon Credit Units over the next 15 years, equivalent to 120,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide sequestered or avoided, she said.
The new projects are:
- The $5m Murra Murra Native Forest Regeneration Project at Nebine, east of Cunnamulla. The 10 year project will regenerate mallee forest on the Kooma homelands and improve more than 17,000 hectares of threatened ecosystems.
- The $2.95m Rock Road Wildlife Corridor project at Tarzali. The 15 year project involves the planting of 204,000 trees over 60ha to deliver a significant wildlife corridor in the uplands of the Atherton Tablelands.
- The $2.61m South Burnett Koala Land Restoration Carbon Project, at Redgate near Murgon. The 15 year project involving the planting, establishing and enriching of koala habitat that, including reducing the amount of dissolved inorganic nitrogen and fine sediment loads entering Barambah Creek which drains into the Great Barrier Reef.
- The $792,000 Swartz Carbon Project at Calliweera Station, Morinish. The 15 year project aims to improve the health of soil and native vegetation ecosystems at Calliweera Station benefiting the Great Barrier Reef and surrounding ecosystems and wildlife.
- The $147,000 ZP LRF project at Gungaloon, west of Maryborough. The five year project to sequester carbon in existing native forests, prevent sediments flowing to the Great Barrier Reef, increase threatened species habitat, including koala habitat, and improve the condition of soil and vegetation around creek banks.
Ms Scanlon said the LRF's major goal was to expand Queensland's carbon farming by supporting land-sector carbon projects.
The fund supported landholders, farmers and First Nations peoples to generate new, regular income streams through carbon farming projects while providing co-benefits such as healthier waterways, increased habitat for threatened species, and more resilient landscapes, she said.
