Forest Carbon CoOp

Forest Carbon CoOp is a plantation forestry project spanning multiple sites across Victoria and Tasmania. Geographically, the project encompasses Victorian areas near Beaufort (approximately 50km west of Ballarat) and Myrtleford (southeast of Wangaratta), alongside Tasmanian parcels in the Huon Valley (southwest of Hobart), near Ulverstone, and Deloraine. It was registered in April 2020 by WeAct Pty Ltd and covers a total area of 342.28 hectares.

Plantation forestry projects involve establishing new plantation forests on land previously used for other purposes, or converting existing short-rotation plantations (such as those harvested early for pulplogs) into long-rotation plantations (typically used for sawlogs). The methodology requires these forests to be actively maintained and managed for the commercial harvesting of wood products, which increases the long-term average carbon stored in the trees and the resulting timber products.

The regions encompassing these project sites are well known for a mix of commercial forestry, sheep and cattle grazing, and dairy farming. Because of the broad geographic spread, environmental conditions vary. The Victorian sites generally experience moderate to high rainfall with typical sandy loam and clay soils, while the Tasmanian sites are characterized by reliable, high rainfall and rich volcanic basalt and clay loam soils.

Interestingly, the project acts as a multi-site aggregation across two different states and has undergone numerous area variations. Land parcels were added between 2020 and 2022 following a structural variation under the CFI Act, before some areas were ultimately removed in April 2026. Public audit reports indicate the project successfully achieved a net sequestration of 5,582 tonnes of CO2 equivalent between 2019 and 2022. Additionally, Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) generated from this project have been purchased and retired by organizations such as the Carbon Market Institute to meet their Climate Active carbon neutrality commitments.