Lynwood Native Forest Protection Project

Lynwood Native Forest Protection Project is an avoided deforestation project located approximately 85km west of Cobar in the western region of New South Wales. It was registered in June 2015 and covers an extensive area of 46,663.67 hectares.

Avoided deforestation projects operate by protecting native forest from being permanently cleared and converted to agricultural land systems. Under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative - Avoided Deforestation 1.1) Methodology Determination 2015, a key requirement is that the land must have been issued a valid clearing permit prior to 1 July 2010. By retaining the native forest, the project prevents the greenhouse gas emissions that would have otherwise resulted from land clearing and subsequent agricultural operations.

The Cobar Peneplain region is characterised by a semi-arid climate with low and variable rainfall, typically averaging between 350mm and 400mm annually. The environment predominantly features shallow red loams, siliceous sands, and deep red earths. Regional land use consists primarily of extensive pastoral operations, specifically sheep, cattle, and semi-managed rangeland goat grazing, with some dryland cereal cropping occurring on the eastern margins of the bioregion.

In October 2015, the project proponent, Terra Carbon Pty Limited, successfully varied the project's methodology from the 2013 determination to the 2015 Avoided Deforestation determination. Interestingly, while official registry data notes a total registered project area of over 46,000 hectares, project partner GreenCollar highlights the "Lynwood" property itself, run by local landholders Robin and Keryl Thorpe since 2006, as covering roughly 6,348 hectares. This suggests the overarching carbon project may aggregate multiple titles or adjacent lands under the single EOP101233 registration. The carbon revenue from this project has allowed the landholders to improve fire risk mitigation, upgrade farm infrastructure (such as traps, dams, and roads), and diversify their income to improve business resilience during drought conditions.