Narrandera Reforestation Project

The Narrandera Reforestation Project is a large-scale environmental planting project located approximately 26km west of Narrandera in the Riverina region of New South Wales. Registered in March 2022, the project covers a total area of 1,162.65 hectares. The site is situated on the Proten Holdings Narrandera Poultry Production Complex, which is one of the largest broiler chicken farming operations in the Southern Hemisphere.

The project operates under the Reforestation by Environmental or Mallee Plantings methodology, which involves establishing permanent native forests on land previously used for agriculture (grazing or cropping) for at least five years. This specific project utilizes the FullCAM model to estimate carbon sequestration. The plantings consist of mixed native species designed to integrate with the poultry operations. Beyond carbon sequestration, these trees likely provide critical co-benefits for the facility, including biosecurity buffers, windbreaks, shade, and visual amenity for the 80-shed complex.

Environmentally, the Narrandera region is characterized by a semi-arid climate with hot, dry summers and cool winters, receiving an average annual rainfall of approximately 450mm. The terrain is generally flat, featuring soils that range from red-brown earths (chromosols) to sandy loams and cracking clays, typical of the Murrumbidgee catchment. The project is a collaboration between Proten Holdings and The Carbon Farming Foundation, highlighting a corporate shift toward embedding sustainability and carbon offsetting directly into intensive agricultural infrastructure.