Fords Bridge Aggregation Native Forest Protection Project

Fords Bridge Aggregation Native Forest Protection Project is an Avoided Deforestation project located at Fords Bridge, approximately 65km northwest of Bourke in outback New South Wales. It was registered in November 2014 and covers an extensive 32,827.27 hectares.

Avoided Deforestation projects involve protecting native forests from being permanently cleared and preventing the land from being converted to an agricultural system. To be eligible under this methodology, the land must have been issued a clearing permit prior to 1 July 2010.

The remote Fords Bridge region is traditionally known for broadacre agriculture, primarily sheep and cattle grazing operations. The climate is classified as semi-arid with a low annual rainfall average of roughly 250 to 350mm. The typical soils in this landscape vary from red sand and loams to black and grey floodplain clays situated along the nearby Warrego River.

An interesting note about this project is that it underwent a methodology variation in May 2015, shifting from the 2013 Avoided Deforestation determination to the 1.1 version released in 2015. Furthermore, the nearby Fords Bridge settlement is steeped in outback history, home to the historic mud-brick Warrego Hotel which originally served as a changing station for horse-drawn Cobb & Co stagecoaches.