THE $15.3 million Victorian Carbon Farming Program provides an opportunity for private landholders to reduce emissions and build resilience to a changing climate.
This program will support private landholders to:
● Plant woodlot, agriforestry and shelterbelt trees
● Leverage opportunities available from timber, carbon, or environmental markets
● Realise on-farm co-benefits such as shade and shelter for stock, biodiversity values, improved farm aesthetics, among others.
The program is linking landowners with plantation-vegetation management businesses to fund tree-growing on properties to increase revenue and reduce carbon.
The program will run as a pilot for the first 18 months in the North Central Catchment Management Authority region. Lessons and outcomes from the pilot will contribute to future funding rounds across the state.
Landowners will be able to access support from a panel of experienced registered project advisors and partner with them to apply for grants from the Victorian Government to plant trees on their properties.
Landowners in the North Central Catchment Management Authority region must partner with registered project advisors to develop projects to plant trees on their land.
The VCFP supports a broad suite of tree planting and management approaches including linear windrows and shelterbelts, woodlots and block plantings.
VCFP plantings can generate new income streams for landowners via timber, carbon and environmental markets, off-setting on-farm emissions, and generating other co-benefits.
Registered project advisors and landowners must commit to delivering projects over a 10-year period.
Total funding available to a project is determined based on the project’s modelled carbon stock at year 10, using the full carbon accounting model (www.dcceew.gov.au/climate-change/publications/full-carbon-accounting-model-fullcam).
Trees planted under the program can be used for their timber, either for commercial sales or on-farm uses, such as firewood and posts, however must not be harvested for at least 10 years.
Grants will open in July.
For more information and to sign up to be contacted when grants are released visit agriculture.vic.gov.au/victorian-carbon-farming
