Blackwood Biodiversity and Carbon Project

Blackwood Biodiversity and Carbon Project is an environmental planting project located in the Southern Grampians region of western Victoria, approximately 20km south of Dunkeld and 30km east of Hamilton. It was registered on May 5, 2022, and currently covers a base area of 2,423.05 hectares. The surrounding region falls within Australia's High Rainfall Zone, receiving around 680mm annually, and features fertile, basalt-derived sandy clay loam topsoils over heavy clay subsoils. Benefiting from these highly productive environmental conditions, the regional land use is heavily dominated by agricultural primary production, specifically broadacre cropping, sheep grazing, and wool production.

Environmental planting projects like this one involve establishing and maintaining permanent, mixed-species block plantings of native trees and shrubs to sequester carbon and restore local ecosystems. Under the standard requirements for this FullCAM-modelled methodology, these projects must achieve robust forest cover, which typically mandates a minimum stocking density of 200 stems per hectare.

The Blackwood Biodiversity and Carbon Project is established on land that had been predominantly used for agricultural purposes for at least five years prior to commencement. All planted species are native to the local area and are selected to reflect the structure and composition of the region's natural vegetation. The proponent for the initiative is DPC Administration Pty Ltd, operating alongside Corporate Carbon Advisory Pty Ltd. DPC Administration actively manages several other comparable land restoration and biodiversity projects in the area, including the Devon Park and Condah Hills biodiversity projects. To ensure best-practice carbon accounting, the project's methodology was updated in November 2025 to the newer Carbon Credits (Reforestation by Environmental or Mallee Plantings-FullCAM) Methodology Determination 2024. Most recently, in April 2026, a regulatory variation was approved to incorporate additional land into the project area.