Located on Wirangu and Nauo Country on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula, ‘Glandore’ is a property purchased by our parent company Greening Australia for significant restoration of native vegetation, particularly the critically endangered Sheoak Grassy Woodlands on calcrete vegetation community.
The predominant land use on Eyre Peninsula is cropping and livestock (68%), but there are large areas of cleared land that are only suitable for grazing, and sometimes not even that, due to the rocky soils (calcrete) making cropping untenable. The region is also considered a biodiversity hotspot with a high degree of species richness – it’s home to 1,900 native plant species (40 of which are found nowhere else in the world) and 511 native animal species (of which more than a third have a conservation rating).
This combination of species richness and vulnerability, combined with the availability of low productivity land, means this is a priority region for strategic restoration. And now, following years of development, we have equipment that can successfully direct seed native vegetation such as sheoaks back into areas of calcrete. Using this equipment for direct seeding, combined with some seedling planting, approximately 700 hectares of four different native vegetation communities were planted at Glandore in 2023. More hectares are to be planted in 2024.
Canopy has registered the planting at Glandore as an environmental planting carbon project with the Clean Energy Regulator (ERF178819), which is forecast to generate over 270,000 high integrity ACCUs over the 25-year crediting period.
Besides carbon capture, the project at Glandore is a nature-based solution delivering benefits for communities, economies and the environment. Representatives of the Wirangu and Nauo Peoples undertook a cultural survey of the site, with their recommendations being incorporated into the planning and implementation of the project, and local contractors are helping bring the project to life. Traditional Owners have also joined the RAW Group and Workforce Extensions planting crews going out onto site.
The planting design has been informed by existing remnant vegetation and historical records of species in the area, and will expand and increase landscape connectivity for threatened plant communities and animals, such as the critically endangered ‘Sheoak Grassy Woodlands on calcrete’ vegetation community and vulnerable woodland bird species like the Diamond Firetail that rely on this habitat.
