Assessing the potential of saltbush to sequester carbon in the Wheatbelt Region of WA

A report to Wheatbelt Natural Resource Management and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Western Australian Carbon Farming and Land Restoration Program – Future Carbon Scheme, by S.J. Sochacki and R.J. Harper

Project P7B204: Assessing the Viability of a Saltbush Based Methodology under the Carbon Credits Act 2011.

Murdoch University January 30, 2025.

This aim of this project was to determine the viability of using saltbush revegetation to sequester carbon and provide data to make a case for the development of a methodology under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Act 2011 (CFI Act).

It is likely that carbon sequestration over a 25-year period of 35-50 t CO2-e/ha is achievable in the WA wheatbelt. Additional benefits of these plantings will be provision of fodder for sheep and cattle, remediation of salinized land and avoidance of land competition by carbon projects.

A time-sequencing approach was used to measure sequestration rates using thirty existing saltbush stands aged from 4 to 26 years, across the central WA wheatbelt. The plantings included two species: Atriplex nummularia (Oldman Saltbush) and A. amnicola (River Saltbush) and two cultivars of A. nummularia (Eyres Green and Anameka). Seven plantings were over 20 years of age however, landowners were sometimes uncertain of the exact age, as in some cases the saltbush had been planted by previous landowners. Download the PDF to read the full report.