Gabalong Farms Mallee 2023

Gabalong Farms Mallee 2023 is a reforestation project located near the small locality of Gabalong, approximately 30 kilometers east of the regional centre of Moora in the Western Australian Wheatbelt. Registered in June 2023, the project covers 385 hectares of land historically used for broadacre agriculture. The surrounding region is heavily dominated by dryland cropping (wheat, canola) and sheep grazing, a landscape where strategic tree planting is often utilized to combat salinity and wind erosion while diversifying farm income.

The project operates under the Reforestation by Environmental or Mallee Plantings methodology. This framework credits the carbon sequestered by establishing permanent native forests on land that has been clear of forest cover for at least five years. For mallee plantings specifically, the method typically targets areas with lower rainfall (under 600mm) and involves planting drought-hardy, multi-stemmed eucalypt species. To generate credits, the plantings must be stocked at a density sufficient to achieve "forest cover," defined as a canopy cover of at least 20% and a height of at least 2 meters.

Environmentally, the Gabalong region experiences a semi-arid Mediterranean climate with an average annual rainfall of approximately 350mm to 460mm, falling predominantly in winter. The soils in this part of the Wheatbelt are variable, often consisting of sandy loams on the uplands and heavier red loams or clays in the valley floors, where salinity risks are higher. The establishment of deep-rooted mallee vegetation is well-suited to these conditions, as it helps manage groundwater tables.

A significant feature of this project is its connection to "Wheatbelt Connect," a high-profile partnership between the project proponent INPEX, ANZ, and Qantas. While the current project registration focuses on permanent mallee plantings for carbon sequestration (ACCUs), the broader Wheatbelt Connect initiative has publicly stated ambitions to explore using sustainably harvested native biomass as a feedstock for renewable biofuels, such as Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). However, as this specific project is registered as "permanent" with a 25-year permanence period, it is currently dedicated to carbon storage and ecological restoration.