Thornhill Carbon + Biodiversity

Thornhill Carbon + Biodiversity is an environmental planting project located near Lowmead, approximately 80km northwest of Bundaberg in Queensland. Registered in October 2022, the project covers nearly 89 hectares of land historically used for agriculture. The site is situated within the Gladstone Regional Council area, a region predominantly defined by cattle grazing and forestry operations due to its vast tracts of sclerophyll forest and cleared pastureland.

The project operates under the Reforestation by Environmental or Mallee Plantings methodology. This involves establishing permanent mixed-species plantings of native trees and shrubs on land that has been clear of forest cover for at least five years. To generate Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs), the planting must be managed to achieve a "forest cover" status, which generally requires the vegetation to reach a height of at least two meters and a canopy cover of 20%. While standard environmental plantings often target a density of 200 to 400 stems per hectare to meet these forest cover requirements, the mixed-species nature of this project suggests a focus on creating a biodiverse habitat rather than a monoculture.

Environmentally, the Lowmead region experiences a sub-tropical climate with summer-dominant rainfall, averaging around 1,000mm annually. The local terrain typically features texture-contrast soils, ranging from sandy loams on ridges to heavier clays in lower-lying areas, which support the region's native eucalypt woodlands and grazing pastures.

A notable aspect of this project is its proponent, the Meerooni Warroo Cultural and Development Corporation Limited. This indicates the project is Indigenous-led or managed, likely aligning carbon abatement goals with cultural land management and community development benefits for the local Aboriginal people. Furthermore, the project's name suggests participation in the Australian Government’s Carbon + Biodiversity Pilot, a stewardship program that rewards farmers for increasing on-farm biodiversity in conjunction with carbon sequestration.