Culverson Road Boxgum Grassy Woodlands plantings

Culverson Road Boxgum Grassy Woodlands plantings is an environmental planting project located in the rural locality of March, approximately 10km north of the major regional city of Orange in New South Wales. Registered in April 2022, the project covers an area of 57.72 hectares. The surrounding Cabonne Council region is a rich agricultural area, predominantly utilized for grazing cattle and sheep, as well as viticulture and cropping.

The project operates under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) (Reforestation by Environmental or Mallee Plantings, FullCAM) Methodology Determination 2014. This methodology typically requires establishing permanent plantings of native tree and shrub species at a density sufficient to achieve forest cover (generally at least 200 stems per hectare). The project area was previously used for agricultural purposes, such as grazing or cropping, for at least five years prior to registration, which is a standard eligibility requirement to ensure land use change occurs.

Environmentally, the Orange and Molong districts sit within the Central West Slopes of NSW, a region characterized by a temperate climate with reliable rainfall, averaging between 600mm and 900mm annually. The soils in this specific locality are often fertile clay loams derived from the nearby volcanic Mount Canobolas, supporting high-quality pasture.

A key feature of this project is its specific focus on "Box Gum Grassy Woodlands," likely referring to the White Box-Yellow Box-Blakely's Red Gum Grassy Woodland and Derived Native Grassland. This is listed as a critically endangered ecological community in Australia, meaning the project provides significant biodiversity co-benefits alongside carbon sequestration by restoring habitat that has been extensively cleared since European settlement.