Thousands of farmers ,agricultural producers, foresters and traditional custodians across Australia are taking advantage of strategic new opportunities to regenerate their land and improve their properties – giving them greater stability and income for the long-term and helping them stay on the land that they love. Carbon farming activities also deliver other important benefits to the land itself, creating a win-win situation for carbon farmers – healthier land, increased production and a new source of income to invest in further improvements.
Carbon farmers either remove carbon from the atmosphere and store it in their land, or prevent greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere, through the use of approved carbon farming methods as set out by the federal government, or other certification standards. Click here for more about approved carbon farming methods.
Carbon farmers receive one Australian Carbon Credit Unit (known as an ACCU) for each metric tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent that their project either avoids emitting or stores in the landscape. These carbon credits can be sold or traded to bring in a regular income.
Examples of carbon farming activities
Regenerating native trees
Changing farm management practices to
regenerate native trees
Building soil carbon
Storing carbon in soils in grazing or cropping land
Stop Clearing
Stopping clearing of established native forests
Savanna fire management
Strategic fire burning in grassland areas to reduce wild fires
Planting Trees
Either as environmental plantings (for example to reduce erosion) or as part of sustainable plantation forest estates.