Danthonia Soil Carbon Project

The Danthonia Soil Carbon Project is a soil carbon sequestration project located in the locality of Elsmore, approximately 20 kilometers east of Inverell on the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales. Registered in May 2023, the project encompasses a substantial agricultural area of 2,336 hectares. The region is well-regarded for mixed farming and grazing, typically characterized by a cool-temperate climate with summer-dominant rainfall averaging between 700mm and 800mm annually. The local landscape features a complex mix of soils, predominantly basalt-derived "chocolate" soils in the valleys and granite-based trap soils on the ridges.

This project operates under the 2021 Soil Carbon methodology (Estimation of Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration using Measurement and Models). This method credits landholders for measurable increases in soil organic carbon stocks resulting from changes in land management. To generate Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs), the project must establish a baseline through physical soil sampling and then implement new activities to drive carbon uptake. For this specific project, the registered activities include the application of synthetic or non-synthetic fertilizers to address material deficiencies and the introduction of legume species into cropping or pasture systems.

The proponent, Church Communities Australia, is better known as the Danthonia Bruderhof, a Christian intentional community that lives and works communally on the property. The Danthonia community is a prominent figure in the Australian regenerative agriculture movement. For over two decades, they have utilized holistic grazing management, mimicking natural herd movements with cattle, to restore biodiversity and soil health to land that was previously degraded and eroded. This carbon project likely represents a formalization of their long-standing stewardship practices, leveraging the expertise of project developer Carbon Link to monetize their soil improvements.