Barwick Carbon Project 2

Barwick Carbon Project 2 is a soil carbon sequestration project located approximately 8 kilometers north of Kaniva in the West Wimmera region of Victoria, near the South Australian border. Registered in March 2022, the project covers 321.56 hectares of a larger mixed farming enterprise managed by landholder Geoff Vivian. The region is characterized by broadacre cropping and grazing, historically utilizing conventional fertilizer regimes and stubble burning.

The project operates under the 2021 Soil Carbon methodology (Measurement and Models), which credits landholders for measurable increases in soil organic carbon stocks. To achieve this, the project has implemented specific land management activities including the retention of crop stubble, replacing the previous practice of burning, and the application of nutrients through a biology-led fertilizer program designed to address material deficiencies. These changes aim to improve soil structure and microbial health, thereby sequestering atmospheric carbon into the soil profile.

Environmentally, the Kaniva area sits in a semi-arid zone with an average annual rainfall of approximately 340mm. The local soil profile is predominantly loam topsoil with patches of clay and varied subsoils (grey, brown, and yellow layers), often described as duplex soils common to the Wimmera. This project is notable for demonstrating that significant soil carbon gains are possible even in lower rainfall environments; the broader Barwick aggregation has been recognized for generating one of the largest soil carbon credit issuances in Victoria to date, with over 10,000 ACCUs issued across the farming operation.