Duncan Carbon Project 1

Duncan Carbon Project 1 is a soil carbon project located in the locality of Colosseum, Queensland, approximately 15km southwest of the town of Miriam Vale and 80km south of Gladstone. Registered in January 2023, the project covers 247.65 hectares of grazing land. The region is traditionally used for beef cattle production and forestry, supported by a subtropical climate.

The project operates under the 2021 Soil Carbon methodology (Measurement and Models), which credits landholders for increasing the amount of organic carbon stored in their soil compared to a baseline. Standard requirements for this method involve implementing new management activities, such as changing grazing patterns, applying nutrients, or rejuvenating pastures, and rigorously measuring soil carbon stocks over time to verify increases.

The environment at Colosseum is characterized by high rainfall, with the property historically averaging around 1200mm annually, though recent decades have seen this closer to 900mm. The local terrain features red loam and clay-loam soils, which are generally favourable for holding moisture and sequestering carbon when managed effectively.

This project is notable for being one of the first soil carbon projects in Australia to achieve a second issuance of Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) under the specific "Schedule 2" protocol. Run by fourth-generation graziers Lance and Kylie Stephenson in partnership with Agriprove, the project successfully demonstrated that carbon sequestration can occur alongside increased productivity; the landholders reportedly increased their stocking rate from 20 to 45 Dry Sheep Equivalents (DSE) per hectare by shifting from set-stocking to high-density rotational grazing across 38 paddocks.