Craig and Ruth Wagner, along with their son Bryan, previously relied on an historic clearing cycle to manage their cattle grazing and timber harvesting operation at Ivanhoe. However, by choosing to step away from this cycle and allow native vegetation to regenerate under a carbon project, the Wagners are finding a balance between agricultural production and ecosystem services that benefits both the land and their livelihoods.

Ivanhoe is nestled between the Allies Creek State Forest, Barakula State Forest and Beeron National Park. The regeneration and retention of vegetation on the property will ensure important wildlife corridors are not fragmented or isolated, creating linkages for wildlife movement across the landscape. The creation of wildlife corridors in the area will aid conservation of multiple threatened species that occur within around Ivanhoe Station.

The Wagners are now able to use the income from the carbon project to upgrade and establish new infrastructure for reducing grazing pressure, restricting livestock access to stream banks and riparian areas and reducing sediment flow to the Boondooma Dam that overflows into the Burnett River and, ultimately, into the waters of the Great Barrier Reef.

As Craig says; “For me, it’s about balancing agriculture and nature and retaining habitat for wildlife, especially the koalas. I hadn’t seen one for about 10 years. Now we are a couple of years into the project, the koalas are coming back because the trees are still here. I hear and see them pretty regularly now, which is great because my grandkids now have the opportunity to see them at home in the bush.”