Hidden Valley SOC project

Hidden Valley SOC project is a Soil Organic Carbon project located in the Fraser Coast region of Queensland. It was registered in November 2022 and covers a project area of 106.25 hectares.

Soil organic carbon projects involve increasing the amount of carbon stored in agricultural soils by implementing new or modified land management practices. Standard requirements for the 2021 Measurement and Models methodology include undertaking at least one new eligible management activity, establishing a baseline, and proving carbon sequestration through rigorous direct soil sampling, laboratory analysis, and modelling.

The Fraser Coast region is characterised by a subtropical climate with medium to high rainfall, typically receiving between 774mm and 1270mm annually, largely during the summer months. Soils in the area vary from coastal sandy podosols to inland kandosols (earthy soils), along with clays and soils featuring ferruginous ironstone nodules. The general land use in this region is a mix of cattle grazing, timber forestry, and intensive cropping such as sugarcane and horticulture.

This project increases soil carbon in the agricultural system by altering the stocking rate, duration, and intensity of grazing to promote vegetation cover and improve soil health. Additional activities include re-establishing or rejuvenating pasture by seeding or pasture cropping, using legume species, and applying lime or other ameliorants to remediate acid soils.

An interesting note is that the property also hosts a separate Avoided Clearing carbon project (Hidden Valley AC Project, ERF173658), which protects native regrowth from being cleared. Furthermore, the participant name for the SOC project was updated in April 2024 from the original landholder, FJD Family Pty Ltd, to Agriprove Solutions Co No.2 Pty Ltd. Agriprove is one of Australia's largest soil carbon project developers.