Inside Carbon Neutral’s Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor Project
29 October 2020
The Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor is located in Western Australia's northern agricultural region, approximately 400 kilometres north of Perth. Since the early 1900s when European settlers arrived, this once diverse woodland area, has had 97% of its indigenous vegetation cleared for farming. However, due to soil issues and an increasingly dry climate, the landscape is no longer even suitable for agriculture, leaving destruction and lost habitat behind for the native species who once called the land home.
Carbon Neutral’s Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor Project is focused on reforesting the region and to date have restored 13,500 hectares of native landscape, taking the first step to re-establish key habitat areas for endangered and declining woodland and shrubland fauna, such as endangered Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoo and Malleefowl.
Inspired Adventures' commitment
Starting from January 2021, Inspired Adventures will be putting $10 from every booking towards purchasing offsets from Carbon Neutral’s Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor Project.
Reforestation
The Corridor includes a diverse range of topography, from heavily weathered forming sandplains to heavier, more fertile clay loams, as well as the predominantly saline lakes and channels of the Yarra Yarra drainage line. Due to the mass clearing of the Wheatbelt, a lot of the native plant and animal species have become extinct either locally or regionally. Others, however, have managed to survive in the sparse woodland and shrubland pockets that still exist, although those areas are mainly rocky ridges or other steep areas that were deemed unsuitable for farming.
The project is focused on replanting native tree species and shrubs across the entire Corridor in an effort to reconnect the 12 remaining nature reserves with each other and the coastline, to create a green corridor that will ultimately restore ecosystems and protect threatened flora and fauna. To date, over 30 million mixed native species trees and shrubs have been planted in the Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor by Carbon Neutral.
Reforestation, or replanting of native flora, has a number of benefits, including drawing down carbon from the atmosphere and replenishing a biodiverse-rich habitat for the native wildlife, who will then have access to much-needed sources of food and shelter.
Unlike other reforestation efforts that focus on planting single species of trees, Carbon Neutral’s diverse native planting management focus is designed to assist in the recovery of entire ecosystems that have been damaged or destroyed, creating maximum biodiversity.
Carbon reduction
While the main goal of the Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor Project is to link small patches of remaining vegetation, another key focus of reforestation is ensuring carbon yields are achieved, by prioritising planting of both hand-planting seedlings and directly seeding ‘carbon focused’ species. These are defined as a species that will grow to more than two metres tall in maturity and have the ability to accumulate carbon in their woody stems, branches, and roots. In the Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor, these are most commonly Eucalypts and Acacias. Hand-planting these species gives foresters control over the density and positioning of the trees, maximising their potential for carbon sequestering.
The mix of native Australian trees and shrubs being replanted in the Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor is quite unique, as it creates a biodiverse environment that will work towards restoring the natural balance of the area. Not only will crucial carbon reduction result from this project, but the trees and shrubs planted will help to reduce salinity, water and soil erosion, and provide habitat for the Malleefowl, Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoo, Crested Bellbird, Western Yellow Robin and Western Spiny-tailed Skink and other threatened wildlife.
About Carbon Neutral
For 18 years, Carbon Neutral has been assisting organisations across Australia and beyond with measuring, reducing and offsetting carbon emissions to minimise their impact on the environment.
The Carbon Neutral group has planted over 29+ million trees so far and are passionate about Australia’s native landscapes, especially biodiverse reforestation plantings and carbon sinks.
But, their carbon management services can support businesses beyond simply carbon reduction. Other benefits include reduced energy costs, improved stakeholder engagement (staff, customers and supply chain) and enhanced brand reputation, as the importance of corporate environmental sustainability continues to grow.
Carbon Neutral services include carbon accounting and sustainability consulting, energy reduction strategies, carbon calculators, carbon-neutral certification, carbon offsets, vehicle fleet offsetting, biodiverse reforestation projects, our Plant-a-Tree Program, carbon-neutral events, green marketing support, workshops and seminars.
We’re really excited to announce that starting from January 2021, Inspired Adventures will be putting $10 from every booking towards purchasing offsets from the project.
Find out more about how you can book an adventure of your own today.
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