Strathmore lies within the Burnett catchment of the Great Barrier Reef. It is home to a successful cattle grazing enterprise alongside a broad range of native vegetation including blue gum, ironbark and lemon scented gums.

Through an Avoided Clearing project, the Dempsey Family have stepped away from the historic clearing regime that has taken place across the region and decided to protect areas of native forest for 25 years.

The newly protected forest will help support fragile ecosystems in the region and provide much-needed habitat for priority species including koalas, as well as providing shade for livestock and reducing erosion.

Income from the carbon project has enabled improvements to the property including four bores and two dams, and there are plans to upgrade fencing and firebreaks.

“The old way of thinking was to clear everything and create more pasture, but I think when you clear everything in this harsh climate, you lose moisture and the grass doesn’t grow,” says Michael Dempsey. “The previous owners were carting water out here for nearly 50 years, but the infrastructure upgrades we’ve been able to put in have drought proofed the business.

“We’ve never had a destock, even in the dry times,” he says.

Over 25 years, the carbon project is expected to sequester over 31,000 tonnes of CO2. And sitting within the Great Barrier Reef catchment, it has the added benefit of helping to control erosion which reduces sediment flowing from the property and ultimately into the Reef.