Henbury Conservation Project
State: NT | Hectares: 527 293 | IUCN Category: IV | Partner: R.M.Williams Agricultural Holdings
Preserving biodiversity and habitat
Watch the Henbury video
A spectacular property in Australia's arid Red Centre is the location of an exciting environmental pilot, where an innovative Australian company is grasping the opportunity of the emerging carbon economy to fund nature conservation.
The Henbury Conservation Project is all about ‘learning by doing’. For the first time a business is attempting to establish a model for carbon farming - and at the same time meet international benchmarks for long-term biodiversity conservation of a rare and under-protected arid Australian environment.
The property is Henbury Station and the ambitious project is the brainchild of Australia’s R.M.Williams Agricultural Holdings.
The $13 million pastoral property has been purchased by R.M.Williams Agricultural Holdings with the support of the Australian Government through its Caring for our Country initiative. Henbury will now be protected forever as part of Australia’s National Reserve System - our most secure way of protecting native habitat.
Running Waters, Finke River
Caper white butterfly
At more than 500,000 hectares - 5,000 square kilometres - Henbury is the largest property ever purchased for the National Reserve System with Australian Government support. Before work began on this project, less than one per cent of this region’s arid environment was protected for conservation.
Some 130 kilometres south of Alice Springs, Henbury extends from the spectacular MacDonnell Ranges across the vast, open red plains of the diverse Finke bioregion.
To the north, stunning gorges cradling permanent waterholes where remnant plant species survive through long periods without rain. Two of central Australia’s largest rivers, the Palmer and Finke, meander through the property - raging torrents during rare flood events that dry to a series of permanent waterholes, providing critical refuges for animals and plants in this arid environment.
The ancient Finke - reputedly the world’s oldest river - runs for 100 kilometres across Henbury and is home to three fish that are found nowhere else in the world, including the tiny Finke River goby. Running Waters, a beautiful two kilometre stretch of permanent water, is home to the ancient and threatened red cabbage palm and to endemic fish, providing a refuge for these species as the climate in central Australia has become drier.
The bustard, central marsupial mole and the black-footed wallaby are just some of the threatened animals that make their home here. Red gum, desert oak and mulga woodlands, shrublands and hummock grasslands provide habitat for other threatened species including the Peter Latz wattle and the thick-billed grasswren.
The Henbury Conservation Project encloses the Illamurta Springs and Henbury Meteorite reserves and provides important habitat links to Finke Gorge National Park and Owen Springs Conservation Reserve. It forms a vital building block in the Territory Eco-Link conservation corridor from South Australia to the Arafura Sea, boosting the resilience of the landscape, so that native species have room to adapt to a changing climate and to move in response to fire and drought.
While Henbury has previously operated as a cattle station, 70 per cent of the huge property remains largely in its natural condition - a great platform for the new owners to implement a conservation and restoration plan to manage the entire property for conservation in perpetuity.
Henbury's purchase is a great win for biodiversity - but this project is exciting attention around the country for its innovative private sector approach to funding ongoing conservation - a potential model across the landscape.
With the removal of grazing pressures, the company will actively manage the former pastoral property to control fire, water, weeds and feral animals to support the regeneration of native vegetation. Income from the resulting biodiverse carbon credits will fund Henbury's long-term conservation.
R.M.Williams Agricultural Holdings will provide regular public updates on their progress so governments, business, scientists and pastoralists can benefit from this landmark 'learning by doing' project.
Leading the way in carbon farming
Learning by doing
The Henbury Conservation Project is breaking new ground in the emerging carbon economy. An Australian private company, R.M.Williams Agricultural Holdings, has grasped the economic opportunities of a new clean energy future, and is working to establish a model for carbon farming and long-term biodiversity conservation in Central Australia's rangelands.
Three Mile waterhole on Finke river
Desert oak
In Australia's Red Centre, 130 kilometres from Alice Springs, this landmark pilot project will work with respected biodiversity and carbon advisers to establish a rigorous scientific methodology to measure and value rangeland carbon. The aim is a great biodiversity conservation outcome that creates an additional revenue stream for Australian pastoralists.
Henbury carbon model
R.M.Williams Agricultural Holdings will manage Henbury to enhance carbon sequestration. With cattle removed, the company will actively manage fire, water, weeds and feral animals to encourage natural revegetation. The process of natural revegetation will remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, storing carbon in the soil and native plants.
The company plans to sequestrate up to 1.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year for the next 10-15 years. The aim is to establish a model for generating biodiverse carbon credits to fund ongoing conservation management and to generate new sustainable income streams.
Carbon credits
Carbon credits offer new economic rewards for farmers and landholders who take steps to reduce carbon pollution and protect biodiversity. A credit is created for each tonne of carbon that is stored on the land.
Carbon credits may be purchased and used by individuals or companies to cancel out or 'offset' the emissions they generate - for example, by consuming electricity or catching a plane - and may help meet regulatory requirements under Australia's proposed carbon scheme.
Measuring carbon credits
There are two options available for R.M.Williams Agricultural Holdings to secure carbon credits.
Carbon Farming Initiative
The first option is the Carbon Farming Initiative, the Australian Government's carbon offset scheme. Under this scheme, landholders who store carbon in trees or the soil, and those who change their farming practices to reduce emissions such as nitrous oxide or methane emissions, will create credits for each tonne of carbon pollution stored or reduced.
These can be sold to the Government or in voluntary carbon markets. The Government has allocated $250 million to the Non-Kyoto Carbon Farming Initiative Fund to purchase non-Kyoto credits from soil carbon and revegetation projects such as Henbury.
Flowering mistletoe
The Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency is working with R.M.Williams Agricultural Holdings and stakeholders across science, government and industry to develop a rangeland carbon methodology.
The methodology must be assessed by the independent Domestic Offsets Integrity Committee. Approved projects will be subject to rigorous permanence, audit and reporting requirements set out in legislation.
International voluntary market
The second option is through the international voluntary carbon market and verification by the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA), a group of international NGOs and research institutions.
The CCBA evaluates the project against 14 criteria to assess its benefits to the climate, to biodiversity and to local communities. In order to be certified, projects must meet the CCBA standards to generate voluntary carbon units (or carbon credits) for sale on the international voluntary market.
Next steps for Henbury
Over the coming year, R.M.Williams Agricultural Holdings will work with respected biodiversity and carbon advisers to map Henbury's vegetation, conduct a carbon assessment and establish a carbon and biodiversity baseline.
Variegated wren
They will be working with scientific experts from the Northern Territory Department of Natural Resources, Environment, The Arts and Sport, CSIRO, the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency and others to develop a robust program.
It will take at least a year to develop the rangeland methodology.
This landmark 'learning by doing' project is expected to generate new scientific knowledge on the carbon properties of Central Australia's plants and the biodiversity of its landscapes - and the exciting prospect of a model for other Australian pastoralists to earn income from a new clean energy economy.
Factsheets
- Download Preserving biodiversity and habitat as a factsheet (same content)
- Download Leading the way in carbon farming as a factsheet (same content)
