Hunter Carbon Project

The Hunter Carbon Project is a soil carbon sequestration project located near the locality of Gollan, approximately 50 kilometers east of Dubbo in the Central West region of New South Wales. Registered in August 2021, the project covers approximately 395 hectares of agricultural land. The region is predominantly utilized for mixed farming, including grazing and cropping, and sits within the Dubbo Regional Council area.

The project operates under the Measurement of Soil Carbon Sequestration in Agricultural Systems methodology. This framework allows landholders to earn carbon credits by implementing new management activities that increase soil organic carbon levels compared to a baseline. For this specific project, the primary activity involves altering the stocking rate, duration, or intensity of grazing. By optimizing grazing pressure, the project aims to improve ground cover and root biomass, which in turn facilitates the sequestration of atmospheric carbon into the soil profile.

Environmentally, the site is situated in a warm temperate zone with an average annual rainfall of approximately 600mm. The soils in the surrounding Central West slopes are typically composed of red earths (Kandosols) and loams, which are well-suited for the project's grazing activities.

An interesting administrative note involves a variation to the project area in February 2022, where specific land parcels were removed from the project boundary, reducing the total area to its current size. The project is managed by Agriprove Solutions, a prominent corporate service provider in the Australian soil carbon sector.