Springwater Forest Carbon Project

Springwater Forest Carbon Project is a reforestation and afforestation project located on the 'Springwater' property, approximately 46km east-northeast of Injune in southern inland Queensland. It was registered in July 2015 and covers an area of 7,721.02ha across the Banana and Maranoa local government areas.

Reforestation and afforestation projects involve planting seeds or seedlings to establish a permanent forest on land that has been heavily grazed, cropped, or left fallow for at least five years prior. The standard requirements stipulate that these permanent plantings must reach a sufficient stocking density to achieve forest cover, which is typically defined as a minimum of 20% crown cover with trees reaching at least 2 metres in height.

The Injune and Taroom regions are historically known for extensive cattle grazing, broadacre cropping, and significant coal seam gas (CSG) extraction within the Surat Basin. The region experiences a semi-arid to subtropical climate and features a mix of deep cracking clay soils (vertosols) typical of the Brigalow Belt, as well as sandstone-derived sandy loams across the elevated Springwater plateau.

This project involves the permanent planting of Eucalyptus cladocalyx (Sugar Gum) and Corymbia maculata (Spotted Gum) on previously agricultural land. Interestingly, Santos Limited integrates this carbon offset project with its nearby Fairview gas field operations by using treated water extracted from coal seams to irrigate the massive tree plantings, turning a byproduct of gas extraction into a resource for large-scale carbon farming. While initially co-managed with Corporate Carbon Solutions Pty Ltd, Santos assumed full ownership and became the sole project participant in April 2026.