Whirrakee Wedderburn

Whirrakee Wedderburn is a permanent environmental planting project located approximately 14km south-east of the historic goldfields town of Wedderburn in Victoria's Loddon Shire. It was registered in May 2013 and covers a project area of 103.18 hectares.

Environmental planting projects under the 2014 FullCAM methodology involve establishing permanent plantings of a mix of native tree or mallee species. To meet standard scheme requirements, these species must have the potential to reach a minimum forest canopy cover of at least 20% and a height of at least 2 metres at maturity, usually requiring a planting density of several hundred stems per hectare. The methodology dictates that the land must have been predominantly used for agricultural purposes for at least five years prior to the project's commencement.

The Wedderburn region's land use is primarily agricultural, dominated by broadacre cropping and livestock grazing, alongside historical and recreational gold prospecting. The local environment features a semi-arid, dry temperate climate with a relatively low mean annual rainfall of roughly 373mm. The soils in this area are typically undulating red and grey loams that can be hard and dry, sitting over clay or quartz bedrock.

The project is managed by Greenfleet Australia as Trustee for the Greenfleet Trust. In December 2015, the project updated its carbon estimation method from the 2012 Reforestation Modelling Tool to the 2014 FullCAM method. Interestingly, the name "Whirrakee" is a likely local nod to the Whirrakee Wattle (Acacia williamsonii), a vibrant, gold-flowering native shrub that is endemic to the well-drained soils of the remaining forests around the Wedderburn district.