Sandalwood Carbon Project

Sandalwood Carbon Project is a soil carbon agricultural project located approximately 25km southeast of Naracoorte within the Naracoorte Lucindale local government area of South Australia. Registered in October 2015, the project spans a total area of 87.64 hectares. The Naracoorte region is renowned for its productive mixed agricultural land use, heavily featuring prime lamb and cattle grazing, broadacre cropping, and nearby vineyards.

The project operates under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative, Estimation of Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration using Measurement and Models) Methodology Determination 2021. Soil carbon projects of this type involve introducing new or materially different land management activities to build and sequester organic carbon in agricultural soils. For this specific project, standard methodology requirements are met by altering the stocking rate, duration, or intensity of grazing to promote vegetative cover and improve soil health. Additionally, nutrients are applied to the land via synthetic or non-synthetic fertilizers to address material soil deficiencies. Project success is validated through direct soil sampling, laboratory analysis, and modeling to estimate the net increase in soil organic carbon over time.

The environment around Naracoorte is characterized by a moderate annual rainfall, generally averaging between 500mm and 600mm. The local soil landscapes are typically formed on ancient coastal dunes. These soils feature a mix of sandy soils over calcarenite, with occurrences of red sandy loams and clayey sediments in closed depressions. This combination of moderate rainfall and sandy, well-draining soils requires careful grazing management and nutrient application to optimize long-term soil carbon sequestration.

Interestingly, the project has undergone a few administrative variations since its inception. The registered project area was amended in both 2018 and 2020. More recently, in September 2025, the project officially changed its proponent from Corporate Carbon Solutions Pty Ltd to AGRIPROVE SOLUTIONS PTY LTD. A month later, in October 2025, it successfully transitioned its registration from the older 2014 soil carbon methodology to the updated 2021 measurement and models methodology.