The Tablelands Regional Integrated Agriculture Carbon is a 25 year, $7.43 million collaboration between the Queensland Government and CO2 Australia Limited to deliver improvement in the biodiversity levels, connectivity between remnant native vegetation, and water quality entering the local waterways and reaching the Great Barrier Reef, with added socio-economic benefits of employment and income generation for the region.

The properties contributing to the environmental planting project are all located within the Wet Tropics Bioregion, an area of extraordinary biodiversity supporting >4,000 plant species; 700 of which are endemic. Environmental planting proposed as part of the project will re-establish patches of rainforest, resulting in improved connectivity to National Park and other protected area estate, with confirmed records on and adjacent to candidate properties of a number of threatened species, including Lumholtz’s tree kangaroo (Dendrolagus lumholtzi) and southern cassowary (Casuarius casuarius) as well as nonthreatened rainforest-endemic species such as the striped possum (Dactylopsila trivirgata) and green ringtail possum (Pseudochirops archeri).

The goal of the account is to monitor and track improvement in biodiversity co-benefits associated with this environmental planting project through the calculation of Native Vegetation Econd®. Ongoing monitoring of the project will be undertaken to help inform management decisions, including Econd® surveys by CO2 Australia ecologists in accordance with the accredited CO2 Australia Native Vegetation Condition Monitoring Method, monitoring and control of weeds. Further opportunities to improve biodiversity co-benefits of the project will continue to be explored for the life of the project, based on the outcomes of Econd® assessments.