Norman River Carbon Project (Revoked)

Norman River Carbon Project (Revoked) was a soil carbon sequestration project located in the remote Central Highlands region of Queensland, approximately 110km southwest of the township of Springsure and 100km northeast of Tambo. Registered in April 2015, the project covered a significant area of 16,275 hectares. Interestingly, while the project name references the "Norman River", a major waterway located over 900km north in the Gulf Country, the official coordinates and Local Government Area (Central Highlands) confirm its location was near the Buckland Tableland and Carnarvon National Park. This suggests the project name may have referred to a corporate holding entity or a legacy property title rather than the physical geographic feature.

The project operated under the Sequestering Carbon in Soils in Grazing Systems methodology (2014). This method generates carbon credits by altering agricultural practices to increase soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks. Typical activities for such projects include converting cropland to pasture, implementing time-controlled grazing (cell grazing) to allow pasture recovery, and improving nutrient management. The goal is to move carbon from the atmosphere into the soil through increased plant growth and root biomass, which is then stabilized in the soil matrix.

Environmentally, the Buckland region is characterized as semi-arid to sub-tropical, receiving average annual rainfall between 600mm and 650mm, which is often summer-dominant. The landscape in this vicinity typically consists of open grazing country with soils ranging from sandy loams to the cracking clays (Vertosols) and texture-contrast soils (Chromosols) often associated with the Brigalow Belt. These heavy clay soils are generally preferred for soil carbon projects due to their higher capacity for carbon retention compared to sandy soils.

The project was voluntarily revoked on November 13, 2023, under Section 30 of the CFI Rule. During its eight-year registration period, no Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) were issued. This lack of issuance, followed by revocation, is common among early soil carbon projects where high measurement costs or climatic variability (such as drought) made it difficult to demonstrate the statistical increase in soil carbon required to earn credits.