Steere Murchison Carbon Project (Revoked)

Steere Murchison Carbon Project (Revoked) was a permanent mallee planting project located approximately 20km north of the town of Koorda in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. Registered on July 14, 2015, the project covered a significant area of 3,875.66 hectares. The project was voluntarily revoked on February 28, 2018, meaning it is no longer an active participant in the carbon credit scheme.

The project operated under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) (Reforestation by Environmental or Mallee Plantings-FullCAM) Methodology Determination 2014. This methodology involves establishing permanent plantings of mallee eucalypt species, native trees characterized by multiple stems arising from a woody base (lignotuber). These plantings are typically designed to sequester carbon while simultaneously addressing land degradation issues such as salinity and wind erosion, common in agricultural landscapes.

The Koorda region is a quintessential agricultural hub known primarily for broadacre winter cereal cropping (wheat, barley, oats) and sheep grazing. The local environment is classified as semi-arid with a Mediterranean climate, experiencing hot, dry summers and cool winters with an average annual rainfall of approximately 325-350mm. The soils in this northern Wheatbelt area are typically ancient and weathered, ranging from sandplains to sandy loams and clays, often with underlying salinity challenges that deep-rooted mallee trees help manage.

An interesting note on the project is its scale; at over 3,800 hectares, it was a substantial undertaking for a mallee planting project in the region. The project's name likely refers to the "Steere" family, who are well-established pastoralists in Western Australia, or a specific property title, as the project location is technically south of the formal "Murchison" geographic region.