Dawson Carbon Project

The Dawson Carbon Project is a soil carbon sequestration project located approximately 12km south of Sarina in the Mackay region of Queensland. Registered in August 2020, the project covers 320.42 hectares of agricultural land within the high-rainfall coastal zone. The surrounding region is predominantly utilized for grazing and sugarcane production, characterized by a tropical climate and fertile soils, typically Dermosols (loam to clay textures) or Vertosols, which support productive pasture growth.

This project operates under the Measurement of Soil Carbon Sequestration in Agricultural Systems methodology. This framework allows landholders to earn carbon credits by implementing management changes that increase the amount of organic carbon stored in the soil. For the Dawson Carbon Project, the primary activity involves altering the stocking rate, duration, and intensity of grazing. By optimizing grazing pressure, the project aims to improve ground cover and root biomass, thereby drawing more carbon from the atmosphere into the soil profile.

The project is managed by Agriprove Solutions, a prominent developer in the Australian soil carbon sector. While the project shares its name with the well-known Dawson River further inland, its coastal location near Sarina places it in a distinctly wetter climatic zone, offering high potential for rapid biomass accumulation and soil carbon increases compared to drier inland projects.