Buckwaroon Native Forest Protection Project

Buckwaroon Native Forest Protection Project is an avoided deforestation project located at Buckwaroon Station, approximately 30km north of Cobar in New South Wales. It was registered in June 2014 and covers 11,826.04 ha.

Avoided deforestation projects involve protecting native forests from being cleared and converted into agricultural systems. Under the method's standard requirements, landholders must possess a valid clearing permit issued before 1 July 2010. Proponents earn carbon credits by actively preserving the forest and managing the land to maintain or increase the carbon stored in tree biomass, effectively preventing the emissions that would have otherwise occurred from clearing.

The Cobar area is widely known for pastoral agricultural activities, primarily sheep and cattle grazing. The environment is classified as semi-arid with low annual rainfall. Soils in the region are predominantly red silty loams, red earths, and sandy loams.

This project was established to protect valuable semi-arid woodland communities that are dominated by Eucalyptus, Callitris (cypress pine), Dodonaea, and Eremophila shrub species. These vegetation types are highly vulnerable to local extinction due to historical broad-scale clearing in the Cobar Peneplain bioregion. Interestingly, carbon credits generated by the Buckwaroon project have been purchased and retired by major corporate buyers like Origin Energy to offset their emissions, highlighting the project's ecological significance for native plant and animal conservation.