CO2 Australia Creating a Better Climate Project

CO2 Australia Creating a Better Climate Project is a reforestation by environmental and mallee planting project located across the Central West and Riverina regions of New South Wales, with key sites situated near Condobolin (approximately 100km west of Parkes) and West Wyalong. It was registered in March 2014, and although the exact total area is unknown, the project spans multiple local government areas including Bland, Lachlan, Parkes, and Dubbo.

Reforestation by environmental or mallee planting projects involve establishing permanent plantings of native tree or mallee species on land previously cleared for agriculture. These plantings are designed to achieve forest cover, typically requiring trees to reach at least 2 metres in height and 20% canopy cover, or follow specific stocking density and block configuration requirements for mallee species.

The Central West and Riverina regions are well known for mixed agricultural farming, notably sheep grazing and broadacre winter cropping such as wheat. The area is generally considered semi-arid to temperate with moderate to low rainfall, and the region's soils are typically composed of red-brown earths, sandy loams, and heavier clays.

This project establishes permanent plantings of Eucalyptus loxophleba (York Gum) and Eucalyptus polybractea (Blue Mallee) trees on previous agricultural land. Originally registered under the name Green State Power Forest Sequestration Project, it underwent a few name and participant changes over the years, eventually transitioning to Carbon Estate Pty Ltd. A Commonwealth carbon abatement contract (CAC304660) was secured for this project in April 2016 and has since been fulfilled, successfully delivering 47,000 Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs). Carbon credits generated by this project have also been voluntarily retired by organisations such as Charles Sturt University for their carbon neutral certification.