Mona Vale Holdings Soil Carbon Project

Mona Vale Holdings Soil Carbon Project is a large-scale agricultural carbon project located in the Tasmanian Midlands, centered near the historic town of Ross, approximately 120km north of Hobart. Registered in December 2024, the project covers a significant landholding of 12,889 hectares. The area is situated in the heart of Tasmania's premier grazing country, a region historically celebrated for the production of superfine merino wool. The project is managed by Mona Vale Holdings Pty Ltd (Trustee for the E A Cameron Family Trust) in partnership with Carbon Link, a specialist soil carbon service provider.

This project operates under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative, Estimation of Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration using Measurement and Models) Methodology Determination 2021. This methodology rewards farmers for increasing soil organic carbon (SOC) levels through changes in land management. Unlike tree-planting projects, this method requires rigorous physical soil sampling to establish a baseline, followed by subsequent rounds of sampling and modelling to verify carbon increases over time (typically 25 years). Project activities here involve altering the stocking rate, duration, or intensity of grazing to improve ground cover and soil health, practices often associated with regenerative agriculture or time-controlled grazing.

Environmentally, the Ross region lies in a "rain shadow" caused by the western tiers, resulting in a semi-arid to moderate rainfall climate (approximately 500–600mm annually), which is significantly drier than Tasmania's coasts. The landscape consists of expansive plains and low rolling hills. The soils in the Midlands are variable but generally include texture-contrast soils (duplex soils) with sandy loam topsoils over clay subsoils, as well as rich alluvial flats near the Macquarie River, which runs through the property. These soil types are generally responsive to improved management practices that build carbon.

A notable feature of this project is the property itself. "Mona Vale" is one of Tasmania's most famous historic estates, home to the "Calendar House", a grand Italianate villa completed in 1867, reportedly designed with 365 windows, 52 rooms, and 12 chimneys to represent the days, weeks, and months of the year. The proponent, the Cameron family, has owned the estate since the 1920s and are among Tasmania's most prominent pastoral dynasties. The integration of a modern high-tech soil carbon project into such a historic wool-growing operation highlights the evolving nature of Australian agriculture.