Mike Walter Oil Mallee Project

Mike Walter Oil Mallee Project is a farm forestry plantation project located at Kulja, a small rural locality in the Wheatbelt region approximately 250km northeast of Perth in Western Australia. It was registered in April 2021 and covers an initial area of 296.34 hectares, with a variation to the project area noted in July 2022. The broader Kulja area is traditionally characterized by broadacre agriculture, with a focus on wheat and cereal cropping alongside sheep grazing.

The project falls under the Measurement Based Methods for New Farm Forestry Plantations methodology. This method provides the rules for crediting carbon sequestered by establishing permanent plantings or rotationally harvested farm forestry plantations. To be eligible, the trees must be planted on land that was previously cleared of forest cover and used predominantly for agricultural purposes (grazing or cropping) for at least five years before the project's commencement. For regions receiving less than 400mm of annual rainfall, the methodology mandates that plantations can occupy an area of up to 300 hectares or 30% of a farm, which aligns perfectly with this project's footprint.

The environment in the Kulja region is semi-arid, experiencing low rainfall with an annual average of around 314mm. The soils typical of this Northern and Eastern Wheatbelt area generally consist of sandy soils (arenosols), gravelly sands, and texture-contrast duplex soils. While these soils are often naturally low in nutrition, they are highly suitable for native mallee and eucalypt species.

Run by Fasera Estates Pty Ltd, this project specifically involves the establishment of Eucalyptus kochii (oil mallee) for harvest on Fasera's Canterbury Farm. The estate spans over 1,200 hectares, integrating the carbon mallee plantings with traditional cropping and sheep production. The oil mallees are managed through a continuous cycle of harvesting and coppicing (regrowing from the stump) every two to three years. The harvested green biomass is utilized for organic eucalyptus oil production and biochar via a mobile pyrolysis distillation plant. This coppicing cycle is noted to sequester more carbon over a 40 to 50-year period than if the trees were left unharvested, while significantly minimizing the risk of total carbon loss in the event of a bushfire compared to fully mature trees.