We’re proud to announce that the first Australian project has achieved Gold Standard certification.
Over the past eight years, Carbon Neutral has established innovative large-scale reforestation projects which extend across 10,000 hectares of the Western Australian Wheatbelt – in the process creating Australia’s largest revegetation project based on carbon capture and biodiversity.
Carbon Neutral reports growing demand for reducing carbon emissions from Australian businesses, including some of the nation’s leading corporates. According to Carbon Neutral CEO Ray Wilson, “Australian companies now view environmental responsibility as a critical component of their business, and they are increasingly being measured on their performance by consumers, investors and auditors.”
Our president David Shelmerdine provides context about how this Australian project works to achieve our vision of “climate security and sustainable development for all”: “Our rigorous process ensures integrity and transparency for any company that purchases credits from Gold Standard projects. For Carbon Neutral’s reforestation project, achieving Gold Standard certification verifies its multi-faceted benefits — from global climate security to restoring habitats for native biodiversity, and even supporting local communities socio-economically. We are delighted that these benefits are now being realised in Australia, and that Australian companies can support a Gold Standard-calibre project in our own backyard by purchasing carbon credits.”
Carbon Neutral develops biodiverse reforestation projects on degraded, semi-arid agricultural land that no longer supports viable farming practices.
“In the region where we operate, over 90% of land has already been cleared,” Mr Wilson said. “Carbon Neutral is helping to return the environment to its origins, planting up to 40 native tree and shrub species which are matched to the environment. “…this reforestation program creates a large-scale habitat for over 450 native species, including endangered and declining flora and fauna, in the Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor which is one of only 35 biodiversity ‘hotspots’ worldwide, as recognised by Conservation International.”