Fraser Coast Plantation Water Quality

Fraser Coast Plantation Water Quality is a plantation forestry project located approximately 6km south of Hervey Bay in the Fraser Coast region of Queensland. It was registered in June 2020 and covers 76.28 hectares.

Plantation forestry projects sequester carbon by establishing new plantation forests or converting short-rotation to long-rotation plantations. Standard requirements for this methodology dictate that the trees are managed for the commercial harvesting of wood products and must maintain commercial stocking densities.

The Fraser Coast region is characterised by a sub-tropical climate with high summer rainfall. The area typically features sandy loams and clay soils, which support regional land uses such as sugarcane cropping, timber forestry, and cattle grazing.

A unique aspect of this project is its integration with the local wastewater management system. Established by the Fraser Coast Regional Council, this native hardwood timber plantation is irrigated using recycled effluent water. Noted as the first registered carbon project of this type in Australia, this innovative approach diverts approximately 2.5 billion litres of wastewater from the ocean every year. The initiative was featured in the 2024 "Forest to Fibre" exhibition at the Hervey Bay Regional Gallery, showcasing the intersection of carbon sequestration, sustainable agroforestry, and ocean pollution reduction. In August 2025, the project varied its method to transition from the 2017 standard to the updated 2022 Plantation Forestry methodology.