Sustainable Timber Tasmania Project 3. Conversion of 150 ha of Pinus Radiata

Sustainable Timber Tasmania Project 3 is a plantation forestry project situated across two distinct forestry regions in Tasmania. The project area is non-contiguous, comprising a northern section approximately 12km south of the town of Deloraine in the Meander Valley, and a southern section located in the remote forestry zones west of Dover in the Huon Valley. Registered in September 2022, the project covers a total area of approximately 170 hectares.

The project operates under the 2022 Plantation Forestry methodology, specifically utilising the "conversion from short-rotation to long-rotation" activity. This management strategy involves shifting the plantation's focus from producing short-lived pulpwood (harvested quickly for woodchips) to growing larger, higher-quality sawlogs (harvested after a longer period for structural timber). By extending the harvest cycle and employing thinning techniques, the trees sequester carbon for a longer duration, and the resulting wood products store that carbon for decades in the built environment.

Both project locations are characterised by high-rainfall, cool-temperate environments essential for productive commercial forestry. The Deloraine region in the north typically receives over 900mm of annual rainfall and is known for its fertile Ferrosol soils, supporting a mix of dairy, cropping, and forestry. The southern site near Dover sits in a wetter, cooler climate zone often exceeding 1,000mm of rainfall annually, dominated by podzolic soils and dense sclerophyll forests utilized heavily for timber production.

The proponent, Forestry Tasmania (trading as Sustainable Timber Tasmania), is the Government Business Enterprise responsible for managing Tasmania's public production forests. This project specifically targets Pinus radiata plantations, aiming to increase the supply of domestic structural timber while generating Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) through the increased biomass retention inherent in longer rotation cycles.