Restoring Murray Woodlands 005 Biodiversity and Carbon Project - Dogleg Swamp

Restoring Murray Woodlands 005 Biodiversity and Carbon Project - Dogleg Swamp is an environmental planting project located in the Riverina region of New South Wales, specifically in the locality of Savernake, approximately 25 kilometres north of the major twin towns of Mulwala (NSW) and Yarrawonga (VIC). Registered on July 17, 2024, the project covers nearly 51 hectares of land that was historically used for agricultural purposes, such as grazing and cropping. The surrounding Savernake area is a well-established mixed farming district known for producing winter cereals like wheat and canola, as well as livestock grazing.

The project operates under the "Reforestation by Environmental or Mallee Plantings" methodology, which involves establishing permanent plantings of native tree and shrub species to sequester carbon. These projects typically require planting at densities sufficient to achieve forest cover (often defined as achieving at least 20% canopy cover and a height of 2 metres), modeled using the FullCAM system to calculate carbon abatement. This specific project is part of the "Restoring Murray Woodlands Biodiversity and Carbon Tender," a first-of-its-kind pilot initiative by the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust (BCT). This initiative stacks carbon credits (ACCUs) with government conservation payments to incentivize the restoration of threatened ecological communities.

Environmentally, the region experiences a temperate to semi-arid climate with rainfall that is generally winter-dominant, averaging around 450mm to 500mm annually. The landscape in this specific area is characterized by red-brown earths and sandy loams, which historically supported vegetation communities such as Inland Grey Box Woodlands and Sandhill Pine Woodlands. The project aims to replicate these native woodlands, planting species like Yellow Box (Eucalyptus melliodora) and Grey Box (Eucalyptus microcarpa) to create habitat connectivity.

An interesting feature of this project is its proponent, David William Sloane, who owns "Savernake Station," a heritage-listed pastoral property held by the Sloane family since 1862. The property is renowned for its conservation history and contains significant remnants of native vegetation. This specific carbon project, "Dogleg Swamp," is designed not only to capture carbon but to provide critical habitat for threatened species such as the Squirrel Glider and the Superb Parrot, reinforcing the biodiversity co-benefits that are central to the BCT's tender program.