North Stirling Downs Project

North Stirling Downs Project is a permanent mixed-species environmental planting project located in the North Stirlings area near Gnowangerup, approximately 100km north of Albany in Western Australia's Great Southern region. It was registered in July 2020 and initially covered 198.23ha.

Environmental planting projects involve establishing permanent plantings of native tree species on land that was predominantly used for agricultural purposes for at least five years prior to the project commencement. These projects require planting native trees at a density capable of achieving forest cover, which generally mandates at least 200 stems per hectare to eventually reach a minimum of 2 metres in height and 20% crown cover.

The Gnowangerup and North Stirlings area is heavily utilised for large-scale mixed farming, predominantly broadacre winter cropping (such as wheat, barley, and canola) and Merino sheep grazing. The region experiences a semi-arid Mediterranean climate, receiving a predominantly winter average rainfall of 300mm to 350mm. The environmental conditions feature highly variable soil types, ranging from sands and duplex soils to sand over gravel, red clays, and grey clays.

This project was established by Wayne and Jody Pech as a key component in transitioning their 13,000ha farming enterprise towards carbon neutrality by 2030. As strong advocates for sustainable agriculture, the proponents intend to hold onto the generated Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) to offset their own agricultural emissions in the future rather than selling them. The project has undergone administrative updates; in September 2024, a variation was made to remove certain areas from the project footprint, and in August 2025, the participant details were updated to transition the project from AgCarbon 2020 Pty Ltd to North Stirling Downs Pty Ltd.