Testing carbon farming opportunities for salinity management

Abstract

An emerging prospect for farm revenue from revegetation of saline and other lands that are marginal or non-productive for agriculture is the sale of carbon credits. Australian Government schemes for carbon credits include the Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) and the proposed Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) Therefore, this study aimed to assess the potential for woody vegetation (trees and shrubs) established on and around salt-affected lands in the Northern Agricultural Region (NAR) to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store (sequester) the carbon in new growth. Revegetation plantings on six farms were selected for the study after the landowners expressed interest in participating in the study. Criteria for selection included: minimum of 5 ha planted on and around salt-affected land; a variety of native trees and shrub species planted; and that the plantings must be at least 10 years old. Across the six farms a total of nine sites were selected for the study. The estimates of carbon stocks in species and sites were projected forwards and backwards from the measurement ages (11 - 22 years)to age 15 years to \u27age standardise\u27 the results and facilitate comparison between species and sites. This was done using the national carbon accounting model, FullCAM