Colty Downs Australian Sandalwood Project

Colty Downs Australian Sandalwood Project is a plantation forestry project located at the "Colty Downs" property, approximately 27 kilometres from the township of Dandaragan and 25 kilometres from Moora in the northern Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. Registered in September 2022, the project initially covered an area of 530.96 hectares, though a project variation in August 2025 saw some listed areas removed from the project boundaries.

Plantation forestry projects generate carbon credits by establishing and maintaining new plantation forests, converting short-rotation to long-rotation plantations, or maintaining pre-existing plantations. These projects must achieve continuous forest cover, which standardly requires trees to be planted at a density that allows them to reach at least 2 metres in height and a minimum of 20% crown cover. In this case, the project focuses on establishing a new plantation forest for the commercial harvesting of wood products.

The Shire of Dandaragan is a prominent agricultural area, with local land use heavily dominated by broadacre cropping, sheep and cattle grazing, and plantation forestry. The region experiences a warm Mediterranean climate with moderate to low annual rainfall, generally averaging around 460mm to 600mm. The environmental conditions at the project site are typical of the Dandaragan Plateau, featuring undulating soil profiles of deep yellow and red sands over gravel and lateritic duricrust.

Interestingly, this project involves W.A. Sandalwood Plantations Pty Ltd (now formally known as Silvalis) as an agent and participant. Growing native Australian Sandalwood (Santalum spicatum) alongside endemic host trees is highly beneficial to the region, as it can help reduce soil salinity, increase site biodiversity, and restore historically cleared agricultural land. The Colty Downs property itself is a notable local holding with significant groundwater resources, three soaks, a bore, and multiple road frontages. This highlights its strong history as a diverse cropping and grazing property before being integrated into a carbon-focused sandalwood forestry operation.