The Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor is where it began.
As Australia’s originator of biodiversity plantings, Carbon Neutral developed the project that defined our approach — and set the standard for everything that followed. It was also the first project in Australia to achieve premium Gold Standard certification.
A large-scale reforestation project, the Corridor is restoring a degraded landscape and preserving precious biodiversity across the northern wheatbelt of Southwest Australia. Working with landowners to return land no longer suitable for traditional agriculture, we grow mixed species indigenous to the region on land cleared during the twentieth century for crops and livestock. Native trees and shrubs encourage wildlife to return while simultaneously removing carbon from the atmosphere — improving soil quality, reducing salinity and erosion in the process.
The project delivers across every dimension: environmental, economic, social and heritage co-benefits that extend well beyond carbon alone. Since planting began in 2008, more than 35 million mixed native trees and shrubs have been established across over 21,000 hectares.
The Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor is the largest biodiverse reforestation carbon sink in Australia.
Impact at scale
A 200km green corridor from inland to coast, reconnecting remnant vegetation with 12 nature reserves across a 50,000km² area.
35m+
21,000+
1.5M+
A global biodiversity hotspot
One of 36 globally irreplaceable ecosystems
Of all the ecosystems on Earth, only 36 have earned the designation of biodiversity hotspot — regions so rich in endemic species, and so under threat, that their loss would be irreversible. Southwest Australia is one of them, and the only region in the country to carry this distinction.
To qualify, a region must harbour an exceptional concentration of plant species found nowhere else on Earth, while having lost more than 70% of its original native vegetation. These are not simply areas of natural beauty — they are the last strongholds of species that exist nowhere else. Once gone, they cannot be recovered.
The Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor sits within this irreplaceable landscape. Every hectare restored here is not just carbon sequestered — it is a fragment of a globally significant ecosystem brought back to life. Learn more about the Southwest Biodiversity Hotspot
Positive social, environmental & economic change
Co-benefits of the Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor contribute to the United Nations’ SDG’s. An independent study quantified and mapped these benefits beyond carbon to better understand the project’s true impact.
Contribution to the positive mental health and well-being of Indigenous communities connected to country.
Provision of job-specific training sessions and inductions for local employees throughout the corridor.
Lowering salinity in both ground and surface waters across the project’s life through deep-rooted native planting.
Creation of 400+ jobs, over 50 Indigenous roles, and more than 80 businesses engaged across the project.
At least 967,695 tonnes of CO2-e will be sequestered during the project’s lifetime, with the figure growing annually.
Biodiverse plantings contain over 30 species of conservation significance, providing habitat for endangered wildlife.
Get involved in the Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor
From independently verified ACCUs and BRCO offsets to direct tree planting, we offer multiple pathways to invest in the Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor — Australia’s original and largest biodiverse reforestation carbon sink.