Mt Solitary Native Forest Protection Project

The Mt Solitary Native Forest Protection Project is an Avoided Deforestation project located in the Cobar Shire of New South Wales, approximately 5 kilometers southeast of the locality of Mount Hope. Registered in November 2018, the project spans 7,723 hectares of land in the state's semi-arid rangelands. While the name "Mt Solitary" is shared with a famous peak in the Blue Mountains, this project is situated significantly further west in the "Wheat-Sheep Belt," a region primarily utilized for grazing livestock on native vegetation and opportunistic cropping.

The project operates under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative, Avoided Deforestation 1.1) Methodology Determination 2015. This specific methodology is designed for landholders who hold a distinct clearing consent issued before 1 July 2010. By choosing not to exercise this permit to clear the land for agriculture (such as cropping or improved pasture), the project generates carbon credits. The abatement is calculated based on the emissions that would have occurred had the native forest been cleared and the biomass burned or decayed.

Environmentally, the Mount Hope region is characterized by a semi-arid climate with an average annual rainfall of approximately 380mm. The landscape typically features red earth soils (Kandosols) and sandy loams, often supporting vegetation communities such as Mallee, White Cypress Pine, and Bimble Box. The project proponent, Terra Carbon Pty Limited, is a subsidiary of the GreenCollar Group, one of Australia's largest environmental markets developers. A notable aspect of this project is its reliance on the "Avoided Deforestation" method, which was revoked for new entrants in 2023 but remains active for existing registered projects like this one.