Western Treefarm Project phase 1

Western Treefarm Project phase 1 is a plantation forestry project located in the Boyup Brook and West Arthur local government areas, approximately 269km south-southeast of Perth in Western Australia. Registered in February 2022, the project spans an area of 1,864.88 hectares. The surrounding region is well-known for its broad-acre agriculture, particularly cropping and livestock grazing, as well as significant areas of existing state forest and commercial timber plantations.

Plantation forestry carbon projects generate Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) by establishing new plantations, changing the management of existing ones, or converting short-rotation forests to long-rotation ones. Standard requirements for this method involve maintaining the plantation for commercial harvesting, extending the harvest age (rotation length) to sequester more carbon, and adhering to strict stocking and management plans. This specific project sequesters carbon by converting an existing short-rotation plantation forest into a long-rotation plantation forest designated for the commercial harvesting of wood products.

The environmental conditions in this area are characteristic of the Darling Plateau. The region experiences a Mediterranean climate with moderate to high annual rainfall, averaging around 723mm. The local soils typically consist of deep sandy and ironstone gravels (often called pea gravel) on the ridges, with yellow sands, earths, and loamy soils over a clay base in the valleys.

The project is managed by Mitsui & Co. Wood Resources Oceania Pty Ltd, which operates multiple phases of the Western Treefarm Project across the state to supply high-integrity carbon credits to the market. Since its initial registration, the project has undergone several variations, including an update to the 2022 methodology version in May 2023, and multiple expansions to the designated project areas, with the most recent additions occurring in August 2024.