Far West Native Forest Protection Project

Far West Native Forest Protection Project is an avoided deforestation project located approximately 30 kilometres northwest of Lightning Ridge in the Walgett Shire of north-western New South Wales. It was registered in March 2017 and covers an area of 6,781.40 hectares.

Avoided deforestation projects involve protecting native forests from being cleared and converted to agricultural systems. Under the Carbon Farming Initiative, Avoided Deforestation 1.1 Methodology, the project land must have been issued a valid clearing permit prior to 1 July 2010. By preventing the authorized clearing of this land, the project avoids the greenhouse gas emissions that would have occurred and protects existing native forest biomass, determining carbon stocks through allometric equations and biomass surveys.

The Walgett and Lightning Ridge region is characterised by a semi-arid climate with low, highly variable annual rainfall. The local area is known for extensive agricultural operations, predominantly sheep and cattle grazing, alongside dryland broadacre cropping such as wheat and chickpeas. Soils in this region generally consist of grey and brown cracking clays (Vertosols) on the floodplains, as well as sandy to loamy red and yellow earthy soils (Kandosols).

The project is managed by Terra Carbon Pty Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the GreenCollar Group. GreenCollar works with graziers and landholders to integrate nature-based carbon projects into traditional agricultural enterprises, aiming to improve land conditioning while generating carbon credits. Notably, on 28 June 2024, the Far West Native Forest Protection Project was formally divided under section 77A of the Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) Act, a mechanism that allows a registered project to be split into multiple separate projects.