Carbon farming

Carbon farming presents an opportunity to help restore balance by:

using land-based plant life and wetlands to naturally reabsorb excess carbon dioxide
changing land management practices to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted from human activities.

Trees and other parts of our environment can reabsorb some of the extra carbon dioxide, but the capacity of the Earth to do this is limited.

Carbon farming land management seek to:

reduce carbon emissions from human activities
increase carbon sequestration in carbon sinks
provide landholders with a range of benefits, such as increased natural capital and an alternate source of income.

Many Queensland landholders are already earning an income from carbon projects. The Australian Government Clean Energy Regulator provides a register that can be searched to see where registered carbon projects are occurring in Queensland. Alternatively, carbon credits can be retained by landholders and surrendered to offset on-farm emissions. We are growing the carbon farming industry in Queensland through the Land Restoration Fund (LRF).

The LRF will support “premium” land-sector carbon farming projects that deliver Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCU’s) plus priority environmental, social, economic and First Nations co-benefits.

Carbon farming key concepts

There are several key concepts that all landholders should be familiar with when considering undertaking a carbon farming project. Please refer to the Clean Energy Regulator for detailed information. All Land Restoration Fund (LRF) projects must also abide by these requirements.

Carbon farming methods

All Land Restoration Fund (LRF) projects must follow an approved Australian Carbon Credit Unit Scheme method to generate Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs). The methods explain how to carry out a carbon farming project and measure the resulting reductions in emissions. The methods ensure the emission reductions are real and in addition to business-as-usual operations.

Each method specifies: