Swan Bay Koala Friendly Carbon Project

The Swan Bay Koala Friendly Carbon Project is an environmental planting project located in Swan Bay, approximately 5km west of Woodburn in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales. Registered in March 2024, the project covers a total area of 43.24 hectares. The site is situated within the Richmond Valley Council area, a region characterised by a mix of sugarcane farming, grazing, and forestry operations.

This project utilises the Reforestation by Environmental or Mallee Plantings - FullCAM methodology, which involves establishing permanent native forests on land previously cleared for agricultural use. To meet the methodology's requirements, the project must plant local native species at a density sufficient to achieve forest cover, typically exceeding 200 stems per hectare. As the project name suggests, the planting mix is designed to provide habitat for koalas, likely incorporating preferred feed trees such as Eucalyptus tereticornis (Forest Red Gum) and Eucalyptus robusta (Swamp Mahogany) which are native to the area.

The environmental conditions in the Northern Rivers are ideal for rapid forest establishment. The region is classified as high rainfall, with local gauges often recording over 1,500mm annually. The soil composition in the Swan Bay floodplain typically consists of alluvial clays and Dermosols, which are fertile but prone to waterlogging, conditions well-suited for the specific riparian species selected for this project.

A notable aspect of this project is its proponent, Stephen Posselt, a well-known climate activist, engineer, and author. Posselt is famous for his "Connecting Climate Chaos" campaigns, which involved kayaking thousands of kilometres, including down the Mississippi and across the English Channel to Paris for COP21, to raise awareness about climate change. In recent interviews, Posselt has stated he is planting approximately 35,000 trees on his property, directly transitioning his advocacy into practical carbon sequestration.