Biodiverse Carbon Conservation SAW1

Biodiverse Carbon Conservation SAW1 is an environmental planting project located across multiple water catchments in the Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu Peninsula regions, ranging from 20km to 60km outside the Adelaide CBD in South Australia. It was officially registered in August 2015 and currently covers an area of 551.28 hectares. The project parcels span across the Adelaide Hills, Onkaparinga, Tea Tree Gully, and Yankalilla local government areas.

Environmental planting projects under the FullCAM methodology involve establishing permanent, mixed-species plantings of native trees on land that has been cleared of forest for at least five years prior to commencement. These plantings are modelled using the Full Carbon Accounting Model (FullCAM) to estimate carbon sequestration. Standard requirements for environmental plantings typically dictate establishing a forest with the potential to reach at least 2 metres in height and 20% crown cover, which generally requires a minimum planting density of 200 stems per hectare.

The Mount Lofty Ranges and surrounding regions are characterised by a Mediterranean climate with cool, wet winters and warm, dry summers, typically receiving 600mm to 800mm of high rainfall annually. The local soils are predominantly shale-derived clay loams, which perfectly support the native dry sclerophyll forests and grassy woodlands being restored. Land use in this region includes a mixture of agricultural grazing, conservation areas, and highly restricted water catchment management zones.

An interesting note about this project is the naming convention "SAW1", which references its ultimate association with the South Australian Water Corporation (SA Water). Originally registered by a commercial carbon developer, the participant and proponent name was formally transferred to SA Water in April 2018. Planting native trees on these specific reservoir buffer lands not only sequesters carbon but provides crucial environmental co-benefits by filtering agricultural runoff and reducing soil erosion into Adelaide's drinking water supplies, such as the Happy Valley catchment, while creating vital interconnected habitats for local biodiversity. Over its lifespan, the project has also seen variations to its area and officially transitioned from the older 2012 Reforestation Modelling Tool method to the updated FullCAM methodology determination in September 2022.