Saltwater Creek Carbon Project

Saltwater Creek Carbon Project is an environmental planting project located at Miallo, situated within the Douglas Shire just north of Mossman and approximately 15km northwest of Port Douglas in Far North Queensland. It was registered in June 2022 and covers a total project area of 165.18 hectares.

Environmental planting projects involve establishing permanent, purposefully planted native tree species on land that was predominantly used for agricultural purposes for at least five years prior to project commencement. Under this methodology, standard requirements dictate that the mixed-species plantings must have the potential to reach a height of at least two metres and achieve a minimum crown canopy cover of 20% to generate Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs).

The Douglas Shire region has historically been heavily utilised for agricultural production, most notably sugar cane farming and cattle grazing. Situated within the Wet Tropics bioregion, the area experiences a tropical, high-rainfall climate with distinct wet seasons. The region's underlying geology produces deep, fertile alluvial and metamorphic soils that are highly conducive to supporting rich tropical rainforests.

Beyond standard carbon sequestration, the project is notable as a $3.74 million collaboration between the proponent, CO2 AUSTRALIA Pty Ltd, and the Queensland Government's Land Restoration Fund. The initiative focuses on re-establishing approximately 55 hectares of tropical rainforest and eucalypt forest communities by incorporating 55 distinct native rainforest species into the plantings. This is explicitly designed to improve vital ecological connectivity between the property and the Mossman Gorge section of the Daintree National Park, creating an essential habitat corridor for several threatened local species, including the southern cassowary and spot-tailed quoll. The project's biodiversity and condition outcomes are also tracked and officially certified under the Accounting for Nature® Framework. Additionally, in December 2024, a variation was officially recorded to update the participant's name from CO2 Australia Limited to CO2 Australia Pty Ltd.