Greening Australia's first carbon offset planting under way at Nurcoung

After 18 months of detailed planning and site preparation work, and buoyed by the best winter rains for ten years, GA staff are now overseeing the first  H141 significant scale planting, at the Nurcoung Property, near Mt Arapiles in the Wimmera. The development of this exciting key linkage zone property has been made possible by funding for a carbon sink from Simply Energy, with additional investment from the RE Ross Trust and ‘Cool Melbourne’. The planting extends to 130 hectares, in three differing ‘Ecological Vegetation Classes’. A combination of direct seeding and seedling planting is being used to achieve the diverse mix of species and plant forms required.

Meanwhile, some 30km further west, the Kowree Farm Tree Group  (KFTG) has completed site preparation for a 90 ha buloke restoration project on the MECU land bank property at Minimay. The Kowree Group is one of the community based groups that has embraced the Habitat 141 vision. GA is proud to be involved with and this active group. The protection and increasing in the extent of Buloke Grassy Woodlands is a key H141 priority.

The KFTG (and Habitat 141) is about more than planting trees. A particularly impressive project they have initiated is a program to provide breeding habitat for the now very rare Bush Stone Curlew. This is being achieved on several members properties via the use of specially designed electric fencing that protects the young chicks of breeding pairs from predation by Foxes. Several chicks have been successfully fledged under this program.