An MOU has been signed today which will bring cash into the region to boost carbon storage, improve water quality to the reef, and pay landholders for their involvement.
Terrain NRM, the Wet Tropics region’s Natural Resource Management body and GreenCollar, a commercial carbon project developer, are working together to use income generated by carbon storage projects as a catalyst for larger scale investment.
GreenCollar CEO, James Schultz said they want to work with landowners, industry groups and government, through Terrain, so the money invested goes well beyond storing carbon to include environmental, economic and social co-benefits.
“We plan to bring together a range of partnerships in the coming months that will see the income from our carbon projects used to underpin a larger scale of investment into biodiversity, water quality and sustainable use as well as creating an additional, bankable commodity for graziers and farmers,” said Mr Schultz
Under the newly negotiated agreement more than AU$200 million is now to be invested into the Queensland coastal landscapes, for carbon storage, over the next ten years.
“We hope the agreement initially with the Queensland Government, the Regional NRM Groups Collective, and now with individual regions like Terrain, will lead to leveraging this AU$200m investment 10-fold,” Mr Schultz said.
The money comes from the Australian Government’s Emissions Reduction Fund (or Direct Action) and can be added to by the private sector – companies wanting to offset their own carbon footprint.
Terrain CEO, Carole Sweatman, said “I hope that this collaboration with GreenCollar will facilitate carbon storage in vegetation and soils delivering additional regional environmental and economic benefits.
“Through this MOU we want to ensure that these projects support our goal of improving water quality flowing to the Great Barrier Reef, improving land management practices and contributing to our local economies.”
