'Muella Native Forest Protection Project

Muella Native Forest Protection Project is an avoided deforestation project located at Muella Station, approximately 130km northwest of Bourke in western New South Wales. It was registered in April 2015 and covers 13,837.90 ha.

Avoided deforestation projects involve protecting native forests from being deforested (cleared) and preventing the land from being converted to an agricultural system. To meet standard requirements for the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative-Avoided Deforestation 1.1) Methodology Determination 2015, the landholder must hold a valid clearing consent issued prior to 1 July 2010 and commit to ceasing clearing activities for the permanence period of the project.

The Bourke and broader Paroo lowlands region is predominantly known for pastoral grazing, particularly focusing on sheep, cattle, and goats. The environment is considered semi-arid, experiencing a low mean annual rainfall of approximately 307mm. Soils in the project area typically consist of red earths on undulating ridges and deep siliceous sands on the surrounding dunefields.

As an interesting note, the proponents of Muella Station operate a diverse pastoral enterprise. Beyond standard livestock, the Baty family has been known to muster feral donkeys in the region to sell as guardian animals that protect pastoral herds from wild dogs. Additionally, this project varied its method in August 2015 to transition to the updated 2015 methodology, and its initial carbon abatement contract (CAC747965) was successfully completed in July 2026.