Living Carbon Grants: North Coast

The North Coast Local Land Services is working with land managers to support on farm carbon management and to assist NSW meet their net zero emissions targets.

The NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) Living Carbon grants program will provide financial and technical support to land managers to design, plan and implement carbon and biodiversity plantings across the North Coast.

Plantings will need to be registered with the Clean Energy Regulator using the Environmental Planting Pilot method. The North Coast Local Land Services is the on-ground partner assisting landholders to develop their revegetation plans for their property and guide them through the grant application process to DCCEEW.

For the land manager, this project will help you to:

  • improve on farm biodiversity, sustainability and resilience
  • diversify income through earning carbon credits.

What are the Planting Requirements?

For the North Coast region:

  • the project must be a minimum of 10 ha and a maximum of 200 ha
  • plantings can be comprised of several sites on a landholding
  • plantings need to be a mix of native trees and shrubs using species that represent the local plant community type
  • plantings can be linear and/or a block shape
  • plantings options are tubestock, long stem tubestock or hicocells (Hiko Cells)

A list of requirements is available in the Planting plan guide for North Coast.

Grant assistance

What grant assistance is available:

  • site preparation – such as ripping, materials and labour
  • fencing - Up to 50% of the cost of materials and labour
  • revegetation – Up to 100% of the cost of tubestock/hicocells, planting materials and labour
  • administration - $5,000 towards the costs of administration and environmental accounting.

Note: All other costs such as weed control, maintenance, monitoring and reporting, or costs exceeding the $200,000 grant limit, will be a co-contribution from the land manager or a third party

Technical assistance:

  • project design and site assessment
  • connecting you to the Clean Energy Regulator for project registration
  • connecting you with Accounting for Nature to establish an Environmental Account
  • with completing your application for the Living Carbon grants
  • project planning assistance available in the Planting Plan Guide
  • completing your first monitoring reports to Accounting for Nature and the Clean Energy Regulator.

Living Carbon webinar

This webinar introduces the NSW Department Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) North Coast Living Carbon grants program. North Coast Local Land Services are the on-ground partner for the program.

The webinar outlines eligibility and project requirements for the grant, the criteria for registering a project under the Environmental Plantings 2024 methodology, summarises the North Coast planting plan and presents a case study by a landholder.

What are the key steps?

  1. Lodge an expression of interest
  2. design and plan your project
  3. register your project with the Clean Energy Regulator
  4. design your Environmental Account through Accounting for Nature
  5. submit your Living Carbon grants application, including a complete Planting Plan
  6. enter a funding agreement with NSW DCCEEW
  7. establish your planting within 12 months of signing your contract
  8. monitor and report on your planting using an Environmental Account through Accounting for Nature
  9. complete communications as part of the grant – landholder experience survey and brief case study.

More information

North Coast LLS will be hosting a series of webinars and site visits to support landholders. Contact your Living Carbon Project Officer to register your interest in this project and receive updates:

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