CNCF Biodiverse Sandalwood 2

CNCF Biodiverse Sandalwood 2 is a plantation forestry project located in the Shire of Brookton, approximately 138 kilometres southeast of Perth in Western Australia's Wheatbelt region. Registered in July 2019, the project covers a 47.49-hectare area. The region surrounding Brookton is extensively utilised for broadacre mixed farming, including the cultivation of wheat, barley, and canola, as well as sheep and cattle grazing. The local environment experiences a Mediterranean climate with a semi-arid to moderate mean annual rainfall of approximately 450mm, while the soils typically consist of sandy topsoils, gravel, and shallow profiles over rock that can occasionally be prone to subsoil acidity.

This project was registered under the Carbon Farming Initiative, Plantation Forestry Methodology Determination 2017. Plantation forestry methods generate carbon credits by establishing and maintaining new or converted plantation forests specifically intended for the commercial harvesting of wood products. Standard requirements for this methodology dictate that the project must be managed under a commercial forest management plan, achieve standard forest cover characteristics (typically reaching a minimum of 2 metres in height and at least 20% crown cover), and account for harvest cycles over the project's lifetime to ensure a net long-term average increase in carbon sequestration.

An interesting aspect of this project is its focus on "biodiverse sandalwood". Australian Sandalwood is highly valued both domestically and internationally for its timber and essential oils. Cultivating it within a biodiverse arrangement helps to restore degraded agricultural land while eventually providing a sustainable economic yield. The project's proponent, Regenerate Australia Ltd (formerly the Carbon Neutral Charitable Fund, or CNCF), is a registered national charity. They focus on co-designing and delivering high-integrity ecosystem restoration projects across Australia to rebuild biodiversity, support local communities, and generate Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) to fund long-term landscape regeneration.