Messner Carbon Project 14

Messner Carbon Project 14 is a soil carbon sequestration project located in the Central Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, approximately 30 kilometers east of the town of Mukinbudin and 50 kilometers northwest of Westonia. The project covers a land area of roughly 221 hectares and sits within a landscape dominated by broadacre cropping and sheep grazing. It is situated roughly 300 kilometers east of Perth.

Registered on August 5, 2024, this project utilizes the 2021 Soil Carbon methodology. The specific activity undertaken to generate carbon credits is the application of nutrients (synthetic or non-synthetic fertilizers) to address material deficiencies in the soil. By optimizing nutrient levels, the project aims to increase plant biomass and root growth, which in turn sequesters more organic carbon into the soil profile. Under this method, the proponent must conduct baseline soil sampling and subsequent rounds of measurement to quantify the increase in carbon stocks over time.

The Central Wheatbelt environment is characterized by a semi-arid Mediterranean climate with low annual rainfall, typically averaging between 300mm and 350mm. The soils in this vicinity are often ancient, varying from sandy loams to duplex soils (sand over clay), which can present challenges such as salinity or acidity that careful nutrient management aims to mitigate. Notably, this project appears to be part of a larger aggregation of projects managed by Agriprove on behalf of the landholder (likely the Messner family), as indicated by the existence of multiple numerically sequenced projects (e.g., Messner Carbon Project 1, 21) registered in the same locality.