'Waterhole South' Environmental Planting Project

'Waterhole South' Environmental Planting Project is a permanent mixed-species environmental planting project located at Rollands Plains, approximately 40km northwest of Port Macquarie in New South Wales. It was registered on September 2, 2024, and covers an area of 19.25 hectares.

Environmental planting projects operating under the Reforestation by Environmental or Mallee Plantings methodology involve planting native trees at a density sufficient to achieve forest cover, typically requiring at least 200 stems per hectare. The core objective is to sequester carbon by establishing permanent native forests on land that was previously cleared for agricultural use.

The Rollands Plains area on the Mid North Coast is characterised by a high-rainfall subtropical climate and rolling hinterland terrain. The region's land use has historically been dominated by dairy farming, beef cattle grazing, and forestry operations. The local soils in this area are typically a mix of alluvial loams near watercourses and clay-based soils, such as Kurosols or Ferrosols, on the slopes, which provide a highly fertile foundation for the native trees.

This specific project establishes permanent plantings of a mix of native tree species on land that was predominantly used for agricultural purposes for at least five years prior to project commencement. The tree species selected are specifically native to the local area to ensure ecological compatibility.

Interestingly, the project's proponent, CARBON FIX PTY LIMITED, operates several sister projects in the immediate vicinity, including the 'Waterhole North' Environmental Planting Project and the 'Waterhole Soil Carbon Project'. The proponent strategically targets high-rainfall areas like Rollands Plains to maximise carbon yield, which is modelled using the FullCAM software, and to deliver environmental co-benefits such as biodiversity improvement by permanently transitioning historical agricultural land into a carbon sink.