On Blue Carbon Country with Bullinah River Rangers

NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD), in collaboration with Jali Local Aboriginal Land Council, hosted an On Country Day at the Duck Creek Research Station, near Ballina on Wednesday 29 May.

NSW DPIRD and Jali LALC have been working together to deliver a Blue Carbon Demonstration project at the Duck Creek Farm which aims to transform a 13 ha grazing paddock back to mangrove and saltmarsh ecosystem to generate Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs).

In addition to carbon capture and storage, the project monitors several co-benefits that deliver environmental, social and cultural values.

The Jali Bullinah River Rangers assisted with the project's co-benefits monitoring. This included installing 24-hour cameras to track the transition of the site from agriculture to blue carbon ecosystem, monitoring biodiversity such as birds and installing water loggers on site to monitor salinity and hydroperiod.

The Bullinah River Rangers have also completed their first season of mosquito sampling which will support the development of a mosquito management plan required to register this blue carbon project for the purpose of generating ACCUs.

The On Country Day provided the Bullinah River Rangers an opportunity to showcase their work and explain the project to their community.

NSW DPIRD and the rangers will be hosting more site tours of the Blue Carbon Demonstration project in late July to celebrate World Mangrove Day.

Register for the World Mangrove Day tour here or visit the project webpage to find out more about the Blue Carbon Demonstration.

This project was made possible through the NSW Government’s High Impact Partnership grant. The grant, managed by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW), invested $10 million to partner with organisations that are active in the land sector and share their commitment to action on climate change.

The grants support emissions reduction in agriculture or sequestration in soils or vegetation, with an emphasis on immediate implementation.

As a condition of funding, projects need to share information and help build capacity within the sector. This helps other organisations understand the potential benefits, risks, and costs of getting involved in carbon projects.

More information can be found at High Impact Partnerships, NSW Climate and Energy Action.