Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor

The Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor (ERF156155) is a significant environmental planting project located in the Shire of Three Springs, approximately 400 kilometres north of Perth in Western Australia. Registered in May 2020, the project covers nearly 988 hectares of land that was historically cleared for agriculture. This specific project represents a component of the broader Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor initiative, a massive 200-kilometre green belt designed to reconnect coastal vegetation near Geraldton and Dongara with inland habitats like the Charles Darwin Reserve.

The project operates under the "Reforestation by Environmental or Mallee Plantings" methodology, which credits the carbon sequestered by establishing permanent native forests on land that has been clear of forest cover for at least five years. The planting strategy involves a diverse mix of up to 60 native tree and shrub species, primarily Eucalyptus and Acacia, designed to emulate the original woodland structure. To be eligible for Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs), the plantings must be established at a density capable of achieving forest cover, defined as a height of at least two metres and canopy cover of 20%, and are modelled using the Full Carbon Accounting Model (FullCAM).

Environmentally, the region sits within the Northern Wheatbelt, an area traditionally used for broadacre cropping and sheep grazing but increasingly challenged by drying climates and soil degradation. The local terrain features a mix of heavily weathered sandplains, red loams, and saline drainage lines. The project specifically targets these marginal or degraded agricultural lands, often those suffering from wind erosion or dryland salinity, to restore ecological function. By re-establishing deep-rooted native vegetation, the project aims not only to sequester carbon but also to lower saline water tables and provide critical habitat for threatened fauna, such as the Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoo and Malleefowl. The wider corridor initiative is notable for being the first in Australia to achieve premium Gold Standard certification, highlighting its dual focus on carbon abatement and biodiversity conservation.