CNCF Biodiverse Sandalwood (Revoked)

CNCF Biodiverse Sandalwood (Revoked) is a new farm forestry planting project located at Mark and Michelle Fitzpatrick's farm near Bencubbin, approximately 275km north-east of Perth in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. It was registered in April 2018 and covers 887.65 hectares.

New farm forestry plantation projects involve establishing and maintaining new plantation forests for the commercial harvesting of wood products. Under the Measurement Based Methods for New Farm Forestry Plantations methodology, proponents must adhere to specific management regimes, including minimum stocking densities, and measure the carbon sequestered in the trees over time.

The Wheatbelt region around Bencubbin is historically known for winter cereal cropping, such as wheat and barley, and sheep grazing. The area has a Mediterranean, semi-arid climate characterized by low rainfall, receiving around 300mm annually. The soils in the project area are typically light-textured, sandy soils, particularly "wodgil" soils which are known to be largely unproductive for traditional agriculture but are well-suited to native ecosystems.

This project was established by Regenerate Australia Ltd (formerly known as the Carbon Neutral Charitable Fund) on land previously used for agriculture. The plantings consisted of native sandalwood (Santalum spicatum) alongside host trees like Acacia, as sandalwood is a hemiparasitic plant that requires host species to thrive. The target stocking density was between 1000 and 1500 stems per hectare. The project was designed not only to sequester carbon but also to offer a commercial harvest of sandalwood nuts and timber after 25 years, while mitigating soil erosion and salinity. Despite a project area variation in June 2021, the project was ultimately revoked under section 30 of the CFI Rule in April 2026.