Out of the woods? The trouble with Australia’s carbon farming industry

It’s one of the country’s main climate policies but critics dispute its impact and locals complain the practice has led to soaring land prices, write Frances Vinall and Michael E Miller

Mulga trees grow thick on Carol Godfrey’s Tinnenburra Station in southern Queensland (Photo by Matthew Abbott for The Washington Post)

Carol Godfrey gazed out her helicopter cockpit at the miles of mulgas glowing green and gold in the dawn light. For decades, the bushy trees had been little more than a last resort for farmers needing to feed their cattle in the arid Outback. But recently, the humble mulgas have become a hot commodity.

It’s not the hardwoods themselves that are valuable, however. It’s what they store: carbon.