Lovers Lane Creekline carbon + biodiversity project ID 1085

Lovers Lane Creekline carbon + biodiversity project ID 1085 is an environmental planting project located in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, approximately 18km southwest of the major agricultural town of Katanning. It was registered in May 2022 and currently covers an area of 21.78ha.

Environmental planting projects involve establishing permanent plantings of native tree and mallee species on land that was previously used for agriculture. Under the ACCU FullCAM methodology, these plantings must be established at a sufficient density, typically at least 200 stems per hectare, to ensure the site will achieve a forest cover of at least 20% crown cover and reach 2 meters in height at maturity.

The surrounding Katanning and Kojonup region is historically highly cleared and is predominantly used for sheep grazing and broadacre winter cropping, such as wheat, barley, and canola. The area experiences a Mediterranean climate classified by medium, winter-dominant rainfall. The local environmental conditions typically feature soils consisting of sandy loams, gravelly ironstone loams, and sand-over-clay duplex soils.

This project was established by proponent Andrew Gibbons to sequester carbon while simultaneously delivering local biodiversity outcomes. By planting a permanent mix of species native to the local area along a creekline, the project helps restore natural ecological corridors on land that had been actively farmed for at least five years prior to commencement. A variation was applied to the project in November 2023, which successfully added new environmental planting areas to the total project size.