Messner Carbon Project 1

Messner Carbon Project 1 is a soil carbon sequestration project located in the Shire of Westonia, Western Australia. The project area covers approximately 933 hectares and is situated in the locality of Warralakin, roughly 40 kilometres northeast of the town of Mukinbudin and 300 kilometres east of Perth. The project was registered in June 2022 by Agriprove Solutions Pty Ltd.

The project operates under the 2021 Soil Carbon methodology (Estimation of Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration using Measurement and Models). This methodology rewards landholders for increasing Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) stocks through changes in land management. Specific activities for this project involve applying synthetic or non-synthetic fertilizers to address material soil deficiencies. By correcting these nutrient deficits, the project aims to boost plant biomass production, which in turn increases the organic matter returned to the soil, sequestering carbon over the 25-year permanence period.

The surrounding region falls within the profound Eastern Wheatbelt of Western Australia, an area heavily utilized for dryland broadacre cropping (wheat, canola, barley) and sheep grazing. The environment is characterized by a semi-arid Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers and low winter rainfall, typically averaging between 280mm and 320mm annually. Soils in this district are ancient and diverse, often consisting of sandplains (yellow and brown sands) and valley floor red loams. These sandy soils can be naturally low in nutrients, making the project's focus on fertilization and deficiency correction particularly relevant for improving soil health and carbon retention.

It is worth noting that this project appears to be part of a larger aggregation of projects under the "Messner" name (with others such as Messner Carbon Project 15 also appearing in registries), suggesting a large-scale strategic adoption of carbon farming across a significant agricultural holding.