Dalgouring Mallee Project

The Dalgouring Mallee Project is a reforestation initiative located in the locality of Dalgouring, approximately 35 kilometers north of Bencubbin in the Shire of Mount Marshall, Western Australia. Registered in July 2024, the project covers nearly 299 hectares of land in the northern Wheatbelt region. This area is traditionally dominated by broadacre cropping (wheat/canola) and sheep grazing, a landscape often characterized by vast, open paddocks and remnant vegetation corridors.

The project operates under the "Reforestation by Environmental or Mallee Plantings-FullCAM" methodology. This framework credits carbon abatement for establishing native trees on land that has been clear of forest for at least five years. Specifically, this project focuses on permanent Mallee plantings. Mallee trees are multi-stemmed Eucalypt species native to the Australian interior, uniquely adapted to survive harsh, dry conditions. To generate credits, the plantings must be modeled using the Full Carbon Accounting Model (FullCAM) and managed to achieve a forest cover with a potential height of at least 2 meters and 20% canopy density.

Environmentally, the Mount Marshall region is semi-arid with low annual rainfall, typically averaging between 300mm and 350mm. The soils in this part of the Wheatbelt are generally ancient and infertile, consisting largely of sandy loams, sand-over-clay duplexes, and areas susceptible to dryland salinity. The use of Mallee species is particularly strategic here; their deep root systems help lower saline water tables and reduce wind erosion, providing significant co-benefits to soil health alongside carbon sequestration. The proponent, Carbon Neutral Pty Ltd, is a prominent developer in the region, well-known for their work on the nearby Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor.