Revegetation

Revegetation projects capture carbon by permanently planting native trees to establish forest cover. This method uses the Full Carbon Accounting Model (FullCAM) to work out the carbon captured by the growing trees, shrubs and debris (dead plant material). The net amount of abatement during a project’s reporting period is then determined by subtracting emissions due to fires and fuel use from the amount of carbon stock.

The Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) (Reforestation by Environmental or Mallee Plantings-FullCAM) Methodology Determination 2014 was made on 9 September 2014.

Revegetation projects need to meet the following requirements to be eligible under this method:

The plantings must include tree or mallee species native to the local area.
Mallee species must only be planted where annual rainfall is under 600 mm.
The project area must have been clear of forest cover for at least five years prior to project commencement.
The plantings must have the potential to reach forest cover (20 per cent crown cover consisting of trees that are at least two metres tall).
The trees may not be harvested except for in very limited circumstances such as hazard reduction.
Tree products such as firewood, fruits and nuts cannot be commercially harvested from the planting.
If the land has been lawfully cleared in the past, it must have occurred more than seven years ago, or five years ago if the land was cleared by previous holders.
Projects cannot be established on land that has been cleared unlawfully.

AI Carbon was recently awarded a grant by the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund to research carbon sequestration potential in shelterbelt plantings on farms in Southern Australia.

MORE ABOUT REVEGETATION FROM THE CLEAN ENERGY REGULATOR <- Back to Carbon Markets 101

Our Work: Revegetation Shelterbelts

Ai Carbon has recently worked with ten farms across the SA Mallee to:

Develop shelterbelt designs that would be eligible for carbon credits under the Reforestation by Environmental or Mallee Plantings FullCAM Method
Calculate potential carbon sequestration and revenue
Assess likely impacts of plantings on each farm’s carbon account.

Our findings

Carbon yield: Models indicated mallee belt plantings in 300-350 mm rainfall areas would yield 7-10 tCO₂e/ha/yr.

Timeframe for return: Based on the most likely carbon price projections, most modelled projects would recover costs within 6 years, and produced carbon revenues three to five times initial costs.

Planting design: Compared to belt plantings, block planting models showed 30 to 40 % lower carbon yields – but with lower fencing costs, returns would be similar.

Mallee vs environmental plantings: Changing from mallee tree species to mixed environmental plantings reduced modelled carbon yields by approx. 25%.

Offset potential: On average, planting 5% of farms to shelterbelts would offset around half of farm emissions.