Ellavale Native Forest Protection Project

Ellavale Native Forest Protection Project is an Avoided Deforestation project located at Ellavale Station, approximately 32km from Fords Bridge and 100km northwest of Bourke in New South Wales. It was registered on November 4, 2014, and covers an area of 40,884.55 hectares, which encompasses nearly the entirety of the pastoral property.

Avoided Deforestation projects involve protecting native forests from being cleared and preventing the land from being converted to an agricultural system. A strict standard requirement for this methodology is that a valid land clearing permit must have been issued for the project area prior to July 1, 2010.

The Bourke and Fords Bridge region is widely utilized for large-scale pastoral grazing operations, with Ellavale Station itself heavily equipped for sheep, cattle, and goat farming. The environment falls into a semi-arid rainfall classification, experiencing an average annual rainfall slightly below the 340mm typical of Bourke. The property's soil types and topography vary, featuring flood-out country from the Warrego River system that transitions into red sandy loams, mulga country, and natural saline plains.

This project avoids greenhouse gas emissions by forgoing a historical clearing right and retaining native forest carbon stocks. Interestingly, the native landscape across the station has historically faced severe encroachment by woody weeds, such as turpentine and budda, for over a century. The project holds an active Carbon Abatement Contract originally committing over 1 million tonnes of abatement to the Commonwealth, providing a lucrative secondary income stream alongside traditional grazing. In May 2015, the project varied its method to the updated Avoided Deforestation 1.1 Methodology. Furthermore, in September 2023, a participant variation transferred the proponent from Hayes Pastoral Corporation Pty Ltd to Grimwade & Gordon Land Pty Ltd as trustee for Grimwade & Gordon Land Trust.