Catchment Conservation Alliance - Great Barrier Reef Initiative Site #23

Catchment Conservation Alliance - Great Barrier Reef Initiative Site #23 is an avoided clearing project located approximately 33km west of Rockhampton in Central Queensland. It was registered in March 2025 and covers 1,366.10 ha.

Avoided Clearing of Native Regrowth projects involve protecting native forest that is otherwise legally permitted to be deforested. Standard requirements dictate that the project area must contain native forest regrowth on land that has historically been subject to clearing for agricultural systems, and for which the landowner holds a valid consent or permit to clear again. The project avoids emissions by abandoning these clearing rights and protecting the native vegetation.

The Rockhampton region is famously known as Australia's "beef capital", with the predominant regional land use being cattle grazing. The area experiences a sub-tropical climate characterized by hot, moist summers and warm, dry winters. Because the region's annual average potential evaporation is high, the soils are typically quite dry, featuring a mix of alluvial deposits along the Fitzroy River floodplain and sedimentary or clay soils across the broader elevated grazing lands.

The project is driven by Terra Carbon Pty Limited, a subsidiary of the prominent environmental market developer GreenCollar. As part of the Great Barrier Reef Initiative, retaining this native vegetation provides secondary environmental benefits beyond carbon sequestration; it plays a crucial role in stabilizing soil and reducing sediment runoff into the Fitzroy River basin, which ultimately drains into the Great Barrier Reef lagoon.