The Murray Wetland Carbon Storage Project is one of Australia’s most comprehensive investigations of freshwater wetland carbon stocks to date. The six-year initiative has been a collaboration among landowners, scientists, community and government agencies to rehabilitate wetlands and measure their carbon storage capacity.

When wetlands become degraded through changes in land use and water flow, they stop being carbon sinks and instead begin to release much of their stored carbon. Rehabilitation efforts are designed to maximise the carbon capture capacity of wetlands and minimise release of greenhouse gases.

Through this program, landowners across Victoria and New South Wales restored 3,750 hectares of freshwater wetlands. The research found that the rehabilitation of freshwater wetlands through works such as fencing and revegetation can result in a significant increase in carbon storage over time.

Soil carbon stocks from the top layers tend to improve regardless of the history and environmental characteristics of the wetland (such as previous land-use, soil type, frequency of inundation, and elevation). This means that wetland rehabilitation is highly beneficial and can improve the ability of a site to capture and store carbon.

Jo and Peter Rayner, a farming family in Walla Walla, New South Wales, own a 12-hectare wetland that gained new life, thanks to the project. The preliminary estimates from this particular wetland show that rehabilitation has led to an offset of 2.6 tonnes of CO₂-equivalent emissions per hectare, per year.