What is the Improved Native Forest Management (INFM) Method?
On 26 June 2026, the Australian Government formally registered the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative — Improved Forest Management in Multiple-use Public Native Forests) Methodology Determination 2026 (Federal Register instrument F2026L00835) on the Federal Register of Legislation. Known as the INFM method, this is the first major proponent-led carbon methodology to reach registration under the reformed Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme development process, and it marks a substantive shift in how public native forest conservation can be valued and financed in Australia.
The INFM method allows state and territory governments, or commercial carbon proponents operating with written state or territory approval, to earn ACCUs by permanently ceasing planned commercial timber harvesting in designated areas of public native forest. To qualify, proponents must establish dedicated “carbon protection areas,” demonstrate a minimum 20 per cent annual reduction in wood extraction across the broader project area, and bind themselves to a 100-year permanence period. The methodology was developed through a proponent-led process pioneered by the New South Wales Government, representing an evolution in how federal carbon crediting instruments are initiated and structured.
For environmental professionals, land managers, corporate ESG teams, and legal advisers working in natural resource management, forestry, and carbon markets, this development reframes the economics of public native forest management in a fundamental way. It creates a new, credible domestic supply of nature-based ACCUs that carry dual benefits: quantified carbon abatement and co-benefits for biodiversity and threatened species habitat. Understanding the technical demands, eligibility constraints, and long-term obligations of this methodology is now directly relevant to a wide range of clients across the public and private sectors.
Key details of the INFM methodology determination 2026
The INFM method is governed by the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Act 2011 (Cth) and administered by the Clean Energy Regulator (CER). Instrument F2026L00835, registered on 26 June 2026, sets out the full eligibility criteria, baseline methodology, monitoring obligations, and permanence requirements. Two categories of eligible proponent exist under the determination: state or territory government entities, and commercial carbon proponents who have obtained written approval from the relevant state or territory government to operate within designated public native forest areas.
Establishing a project under the INFM method requires proponents to define and spatially map “carbon protection areas” within the project boundary. Critically, the historical baseline must be constructed using sustainable yield estimates prepared between 2014 and 2024. This ten-year window is specific and non-negotiable: it defines the counterfactual harvesting scenario against which carbon abatement is calculated. The 20 per cent minimum annual reduction in wood extraction is not a project-level metric but applies across the wider project area, meaning that strategic redistribution of harvesting within a project boundary cannot substitute for genuine aggregate reductions in extraction volume.
The 100-year permanence period is the most operationally demanding element of the determination. This obligation means that carbon protection areas must remain protected from commercial harvesting for a full century from project registration. Proponents are required to monitor, record, and report on all harvesting activity, clearing events, and major disturbance events including bushfires, pest outbreaks, and windthrow. These reporting obligations create a long-term, ongoing demand for ecological monitoring, remote sensing analysis, spatial data management, and auditable documentation systems. The CER administers ongoing compliance against these obligations and retains the authority to require remedial action or impose ACCU relinquishment in response to permanence breaches.
The carbon accounting methodology itself requires modelling of carbon abatement relative to the historical baseline, integrating estimates of above-ground biomass, below-ground biomass, dead organic matter, and soil carbon changes attributable to the cessation of harvesting. This is not a desktop exercise. The spatial complexity of public native forest boundaries, the need to reconcile state forestry management plans with CER reporting templates, and the multi-decadal modelling horizons all demand high-level environmental consultancy, GIS capability, and ecological expertise. Commercial proponents seeking project registration without state government status will also need to demonstrate that their written approval from the relevant state or territory government is current and encompasses the full project area.
Australian context: INFM method implications for carbon markets and forest management regulation
Australia’s public native forests are managed under a patchwork of state and territory legislation, including the Forestry Act 2012 (NSW), the Forests Act 1958 (Vic), and equivalent instruments in Queensland, Western Australia, and other jurisdictions. Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs) between the Commonwealth and relevant states have historically defined the balance between conservation and commercial harvesting in these areas. The INFM method does not displace RFAs, but it introduces a powerful financial incentive structure that can influence how state governments and approved commercial partners elect to manage areas within or adjacent to RFA-covered forests. State governments that choose to transition areas away from active commercial harvesting and into carbon protection areas can now generate ACCU revenue streams that partially substitute for timber royalties and other forestry-derived income, altering the fiscal calculus of native forest management in a way that previous conservation policy mechanisms could not achieve.
References and related sources
- Primary source: www.legislation.gov.au
- cer.gov.au
- miragenews.com
- carbonmarketinstitute.org
- cer.gov.au
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This is an iEnvi Machete news summary. Prepared by iEnvi to summarise the source article for contaminated land, groundwater, remediation, approvals and site risk professionals.
Published: 27 Jun 2026
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