Wandalong Biodiverse Reforestation Project

Wandalong Biodiverse Reforestation Project is a large-scale environmental planting project located approximately 35 kilometres northeast of the town of Northampton and roughly 80 kilometres north of the regional city of Geraldton in Western Australia. Registered in July 2023, the project covers a substantial area of 4,503 hectares. While the wider region is traditionally utilized for dryland broadacre agriculture, specifically wheat cropping and sheep grazing, this specific property sits on the marginal fringe of the northern wheatbelt, an area increasingly impacted by a drying climate and sandy soil constraints.

The project operates under the Reforestation by Environmental or Mallee Plantings (FullCAM) methodology. This involves establishing permanent plantings of native tree and shrub species, such as eucalypt mallees and Melaleuca, on land previously cleared for grazing or cropping. The methodology requires the trees to be planted at a density capable of achieving forest cover and strictly prohibits harvesting, ensuring the carbon remains sequestered permanently for a period of either 25 or 100 years (this project has elected 100 years).

Ecologically, the site is situated within a semi-arid transitional zone characterized by low annual rainfall, typically averaging between 300mm and 400mm. The terrain is dominated by sandy soils, described specifically as red sands and loams over patchy calcrete, which rendered the land historically difficult to farm profitably. A notable aspect of the project is its strategic location within the "Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor," a private conservation initiative by the developer, Carbon Neutral. The planting is designed to physically link the nearby Mallee Nature Reserve and Wandana Nature Reserve, thereby reconnecting fragmented remnant vegetation to support biodiversity in a global hotspot.