Addressing climate change with carbon farming

Carbon farming ticks so many boxes: it’s beneficial for the planet; it will help Australia generate more timber to supply the increasing demand and it improves cashflow. We’re working with experts from WeAct, which specialises in carbon farming development; they’ve been a vital part of getting approval for our first carbon farming project.

Carbon farming has positive environmental outcomes, while simultaneously boosting cashflow and creating more jobs in the forest and timber industries

In July 2020, we started planting a pilot project on 126 hectares of a 344 hectare project at Tullich in Victoria, Australia. It’s a 25-year-plus commitment to carbon farming, where the carbon sequestered by the trees we plant will generate credits from the Emission Reduction Fund (ERF) for the next 15 years. This is just one way we can demonstrate how addressing climate change can go hand-in-hand with profitable business practices.

The Tullich project was a short rotation blue gum plantation, which we’ve converted to long rotation radiata pine. The timber produced by the pines will store carbon for 30 to 100 years, as opposed to the paper produced by the gum trees which stores carbon for an average of six years.

Our Chief Forester Glen Rivers says the carbon is measured as a proportion of the biomass of the tree, and we will monitor the growth of the trees over the period of this project: “The carbon sequestration over the project life is expected to be approximately 63,000 tonnes of CO2 , which is enough to offset emissions from 13,500 cars each year.”

That carbon is forecast to create an income of over $700,000 during the first 15 years of growth, after which the credits cease. We can earn Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) for every tonne of emissions stored through this project and sell the ACCUs to the Australian Government or other business to generate additional revenue.

“We were motivated to begin carbon farming for the environmental and business case benefits,” Glen explains.

“We will manage this forest in exactly the same way as we do our other plantation areas. The extra revenue will help us get more trees in the ground, which in the coming years will also help to meet Australia’s growing need for timber.