Charon Point Carbon Project

Charon Point Carbon Project is a soil carbon project located near Baralaba, approximately 100km southwest of Rockhampton in Central Queensland's Dawson Valley. It was registered in April 2015 and covers an area of 6,409.48ha.

Soil carbon projects operating under the "Estimation of Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration using Measurement and Models" methodology involve changing agricultural land management practices to draw down carbon from the atmosphere and store it in the soil. Standard requirements dictate that proponents implement eligible new management activities to build and measure this soil organic carbon.

The Baralaba area and broader Banana Shire region are primarily known for beef cattle grazing, broadacre cropping, and coal mining operations. The environment typically experiences a semi-arid to sub-tropical climate with medium rainfall. Soils in this region generally consist of fertile alluvial deposits along the riverways and cracking clays (brigalow soils) common to the Central Highlands.

This project aims to increase carbon in the agricultural soil system by altering the stocking rate, duration, or intensity of grazing to promote soil vegetation cover and overall soil health. In addition to grazing management, the project focuses on applying synthetic or non-synthetic fertilisers to address material nutrient deficiencies, alongside rejuvenating local pastures through seeding and pasture cropping.

An interesting note about this project is its extensive evolution over the past decade. It has transitioned through three different ACCU methodology determinations, upgrading from the 2014 and 2018 methods before ultimately shifting to the 2021 Measurement and Models determination. The project boundary has also seen multiple variations, adding and removing land parcels over the years to optimize its carbon sequestration area. Furthermore, while originally contracted in April 2015, it is no longer associated with its initial ERF contract, and in December 2024, Coolum Pastoral Pty Ltd was officially added alongside Corporate Carbon Solutions Pty Ltd as a joint proponent.