Far West Native Forest Protection Project

Far West Native Forest Protection Project is an avoided deforestation project located approximately 25km northwest of Lightning Ridge in outback New South Wales. It was registered in March 2017 and covers a significant 6,781.40 ha.

Avoided deforestation projects involve protecting native forests from being permanently cleared for agricultural use. Under the Avoided Deforestation 1.1 methodology, landholders who were issued a valid land clearing permit before 1 July 2010 agree to surrender or not act on the permit. This avoids the greenhouse gas emissions that would have resulted from the land clearing. Standard requirements include maintaining the forest cover, managing the timing and extent of livestock grazing, managing feral animals, and calculating the preserved carbon stock through regular biomass surveys using allometric equations.

The Lightning Ridge region is primarily known for large-scale sheep and cattle grazing, as well as opal mining. The area experiences a semi-arid climate with low, variable rainfall. Soils in this region generally consist of red-brown earths, sandy loams, and cracking clays (vertosols), which support dryland native woodlands and scrub.

This project was established to ensure the native forest remains intact and is protected from being converted into an agricultural system. The proponent, Terra Carbon Pty Limited, is a subsidiary of the prominent Australian environmental markets developer GreenCollar. Additionally, on 28 June 2024, this project was divided under section 77A of the Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) Act, a legislative mechanism that allows a single registered project to be split into multiple smaller projects.