Boorabee Farm Biodiversity Restoration Project

The Boorabee Farm Biodiversity Restoration Project is a permanent environmental planting project located at Boorabee Park, approximately 25 kilometers west of Murwillumbah in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales. Registered on August 30, 2024, the project covers 11.9 hectares of land within the Tweed Shire Council area. This region is renowned for its lush, subtropical landscape and agricultural history, with land use primarily dominated by cattle grazing, dairy farming, and increasingly, lifestyle and conservation properties.

Operating under the Reforestation by Environmental or Mallee Plantings-FullCAM (2014) methodology, the project involves establishing a mix of native tree species on land previously cleared for agriculture. To meet the methodology's requirements, the plantings must occur at a density sufficient to achieve "forest cover" status, defined as having the potential to reach a height of at least two meters and a crown cover of at least 20%. The project area was predominantly used for agricultural purposes for at least five years prior to registration, ensuring it meets the "newness" and land-use eligibility criteria of the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) scheme.

The project is situated in a high-rainfall zone, with local data suggesting annual precipitation often exceeding 1,200mm, supporting rapid vegetation growth. The soils in this part of the Tweed caldera are typically fertile Ferrosols (red volcanic soils) or Dermosols, which are well-suited to supporting the native rainforest and sclerophyll species endemic to the area. By transitioning the land from active agriculture to permanent native vegetation, the project aims to sequester carbon while simultaneously restoring local biodiversity and habitat corridors.