Colty Downs Australian Sandalwood Project

Colty Downs Australian Sandalwood Project is a plantation forestry project located approximately 25km northwest of Moora in the Shire of Dandaragan, within the Northern Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. It was registered in September 2022 and currently covers 530.96ha. In August 2025, a variation to the project area was processed, removing certain areas listed under the original project footprint.

Plantation forestry projects involve sequestering carbon by establishing and maintaining new commercial plantation forests. A standard requirement of this method is that new forests must be established on land that has been free of forest cover for at least seven years. Unlike environmental plantings which are entirely protected, these projects are uniquely designed to store carbon while still allowing for the commercial harvesting of wood products, in this case, Australian Sandalwood, supporting both climate mitigation and sustainable timber production.

The Dandaragan area is a highly productive agricultural region historically known for broadacre cropping, such as wheat, barley, and canola, along with sheep grazing operations. The environment features a Mediterranean climate with an average annual rainfall of approximately 500 to 600 mm. Soils in the project area are typical of the local sandplains, predominantly featuring sandy loams, lateritic gravels, and deep pale sands which are frequently subject to non-wetting issues. These well-drained soil types are highly suitable for deep-rooted forestry species like sandalwood.

The host property, "Colty Downs", has historically been utilized as a large-scale mixed-farming and cropping aggregation. The carbon project is administered by the proponent EGGIGOTE PLANTATIONS PTY LTD, with W.A. Sandalwood Plantations Pty Ltd actively participating as the project's authorized agent.