Colty Downs Australian Sandalwood Project

Colty Downs Australian Sandalwood Project is a plantation forestry project located at "Colty Downs," approximately 25 kilometers southeast of Badgingarra in the Shire of Dandaragan, Western Australia. Registered in September 2022, the project covers 530.96 hectares of land in a region traditionally known for broadacre agriculture, including sheep grazing and wheat cropping. The area has increasingly become a hub for sandalwood forestry due to its suitable sandy plains.

The project operates under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative-Plantation Forestry) Methodology Determination 2022. This method incentivizes the establishment of new plantation forests or the conversion of short-rotation plantations to long-rotation systems. Specifically, this project involves establishing a new plantation of Australian Sandalwood (Santalum spicatum) intended for commercial harvesting of wood products. The plantation approach for sandalwood typically involves planting host trees (such as Acacia) alongside the sandalwood, as the species is hemiparasitic and requires a host to thrive.

Environmentally, the Badgingarra region is characterized by a Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters. The average annual rainfall is approximately 520mm, which supports the deep-rooted vegetation used in these projects. The soils in the project area are predominantly sandy loams and lateritic gravels, which are well-drained and ideal for the establishment of native sandalwood systems.

A notable aspect of this project is its participant structure; while Eggigote Plantations Pty Ltd is the proponent, the project is likely managed or facilitated by W.A. Sandalwood Plantations Pty Ltd, a major manager of such assets in the state. In August 2025, the project underwent a variation where certain areas within the original boundary were removed, likely to refine the creditable area or account for land management changes.