Carbon farming is the practice of reducing carbon emissions into the atmosphere by storing carbon (CO2e) in the landscape, specifically in vegetation and soil. There are a variety of carbon farming methods that can integrate into existing farming operations, such as planting trees and vegetation to store carbon in the landscape or changing property management to store carbon in soil.
In Australia, carbon farming activities that comply with specific vegetation or agricultural-based methodologies can be registered as projects under the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme. Several other international methodologies can apply to certain projects, but these FAQs apply to ACCU Scheme methodologies.
The cost of a carbon project depends on your location and specific context. Factors that could change project costs include:
The CFF exists to make it as easy as possible for landholders to tap into the carbon farming opportunity and accelerate towards carbon neutrality.
When they work with us, landholders can choose their level of involvement in a carbon project. The more work you put in, the lower the costs. And as you have 100% control over your carbon project, you keep 100% of the carbon credits.
Under our transparent and flexible delivery model, you have the freedom to pick from our menu of services that are best suited to their project requirements and budget. We provide carbon farming services and solutions that are good for the planet and our customer’s bottom line.
You can find out more about our services here.
To be eligible, you must meet a set of criteria to be eligible to receive carbon credits from your reforestation carbon project. Please note some key requirements below and click here for our full eligibility checklist.
Eligible land:
Your project must be implemented on land that has been clear of forest cover for the past seven years, and doesn’t require clearing of woody biomass in order for trees to be planted.
Planting Your Trees:
Trees can be planted in a variety of ways – either as seeds or tube stock, in rows or randomly, and in areas that are either linear belts or as blocks. You must plant with seedlings or seeds sourced from trees native to the local area.
All projects must be planted at a density that will achieve forest cover. According to the ACCU Scheme, the trees must reach “a height of at least 2 metres with a canopy area that covers at least 20% of the land”.
Your tree growth is checked and verified in 6 months to 5-year reporting cycles and regular audits. This is to ensure you’re managing your project properly and you are paid for credits correctly.
Carbon credits are issued after each relevant reporting period within the carbon project. You can report on your project as often as every 6 months (to be issued your carbon credits more frequently) or stagger it to every 5 years. We usually suggest you report every 3-5 years to reduce your reporting costs.
The Clean Energy Regulator (CER) sets the guidelines that a soil carbon project needs to follow. The official name for the soil carbon method under which CFF supports landholders is Estimating soil organic carbon sequestration using measurement and models method 2021. To make it less of a tongue twister, we usually refer to it as the Soil Carbon Method 2021. You can read more about the methodology here.
The ACCU Scheme’s Soil Carbon Method 2021 sets out a list of requirements, some of which are listed below.
By storing carbon within your plantation and its products, you are removing carbon from the atmosphere. This removal – and subsequent increase in your carbon stocks – earns you carbon credits.
Under the ACCU Scheme’s 2022 Plantation forestry methodology, there are four different ways to earn carbon credits. These four options are called schedules, and include:
Learn more about the ins and outs of a plantation forestry carbon project here.
There are several options available to you. You can either:
The option selected – and how you might retain or assign carbon credits associated with the project – will depend on your circumstances and your negotiations with the farm buyer.
Risks will be project specific but may include:
There are many ways to avoid or mitigate these risks. CFF’s services, from initial feasibility all the way through to project setup, are designed to help you understand and plan for risk in the context of your operation. We also encourage you to seek the advice of local experts like agronomists, foresters and financial and legal advisors to set up your project for success from the outset.
If your project is hit by an extreme weather event, such as bushfire or drought, it is important to understand the Clean Energy Regulator’s official policy. You should always clarify this before registering a project with the ACCU Scheme. The CER states that an extreme weather event is a “natural disturbance or reversal event” when it affects at least 5% of the project area.
Using drought or bushfire as an example, provided the farming enterprise notifies the Regulator within 60 days of a drought being declared or bushfire damage, and they can show that reasonable actions were taken to reduce the impacts on their project, the Regulator allows flexibility in managing carbon loss. You can read more about how a carbon reversal event can be managed via our example drought scenario here.
We provide some tips on how you can mitigate the risk of drought affecting your carbon project in our blog here.
Some tips are:
We provide some tips on how to decrease the risk and impact of bushfires on your carbon project here.
Some tips are:
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The Carbon Farming Foundation (ABN 67 645 498 004) is a Corporate Authorised Representative (AFS Representative No.001298535) of True Oak Investments Pty Ltd (ABN 81 002 558 956, AFSL 238184).
The information on this website is general financial product advice only. It does not take your personal financial objectives, situation or needs into consideration. We recommend that you read our Financial Services Guide and consider seeking independent advice before making a financial decision.