Unlock the potential of carbon farming
Nature has the potential to make a significant contribution to Australia‘s efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Regenerative carbon farming methods allow farmers, native title holders and communities to restore natural habitats and reduce carbon in the atmosphere all while generating income.
Australia‘s outback possesses a huge carbon store – approximately 9.79 billion tonnes are sequestered in its natural ecosystems, and through careful management and restoration of vegetation there is potential to store significantly more.
The WA Government has already undertaken processes to encourage carbon farming within its pastoral estates after a landmark decision in 2019, but the methods available remain limited. Carbon farming is already providing much-needed funding for projects that provide jobs, restore the environment and improve pastoral productivity.
However, more can be done across WA, including delivering the science needed to accurately measure and take advantage of carbon sequestration, and supporting stakeholders to engage in carbon farming.
How to support carbon farming in WA
Support is needed to adopt and expand carbon farming methods that are appropriate for Western Australian ecosystems and the realities of the Western Australian rangelands, including supporting reforestation and afforestation methods on pastoral leases to benefit severely degraded land and changing the definition of a forest.
The development of new methods are necessary for the Great Western Woodlands and Western Deserts, to help expand environmental and economic benefits in the Outback.
Similar reforms in other Outback States could deliver economic windfalls, help the native environment recover from decades of over-exploitation, and draw down carbon from the atmosphere.
The Outback Alliance, who we work closely with, aims to develop and deliver methods for human-induced regeneration in the outback in collaboration with communities, governments and native titleholders.
