2022 Little Wattlebird Project

2022 Little Wattlebird Project is a commercial plantation forestry project located across multiple dispersed sites within the extensive estate managed by Forico in Tasmania. While the project includes areas in the South East near Sorell, the majority of the project area is situated in the state's prime forestry regions of the North West (inland from Burnie) and the North East (near Launceston and Fingal). Registered in December 2022, the project covers approximately 1,956 hectares of plantation land.

The project operates under the Plantation Forestry methodology, specifically focusing on the conversion of plantations from short-rotation to long-rotation management. In this context, existing Eucalyptus nitens (Shining Gum) plantations, originally intended for harvest as woodchips or pulp around age 12, are instead actively thinned and pruned to grow for 25 years or more. This allows the trees to mature into high-quality sawlogs for structural timber, sequestering carbon for a significantly longer period in both the biomass and the resulting wood products.

The regions involved, particularly the Surrey Hills estate in the North West, are characterized by high rainfall and fertile red basaltic soils (Ferrosols), creating ideal conditions for rapid tree growth. By extending the harvest rotation, the project aims to provide co-benefits beyond carbon sequestration, including creating more stable habitats for native birdlife such as the project's namesake, the Little Wattlebird. The project is managed by Forico on behalf of New Forests, a global investment manager for nature-based real assets.