FIT 2023 Carbon Project

FIT 2023 Carbon Project is a plantation forestry project located in the South West region of Western Australia, with project areas situated near the towns of Boyup Brook and Donnybrook (approximately 200km south of Perth). Registered in January 2023, the project covers roughly 1,654 hectares. The region is a primary hub for Western Australian agriculture and forestry, characterized by a Mediterranean climate with high rainfall and gravelly loam soils that support productive timber plantations, vineyards, and grazing.

The project operates under the Plantation Forestry (2022) methodology, which credits abatement for activities that increase carbon stocks in plantation forests. Specifically, this project involves two key activities: establishing new plantation forests and converting existing short-rotation plantations (typically harvested for woodchips/pulp every 10–15 years) into long-rotation plantations (harvested for sawlogs after 25+ years). By extending the rotation period, the trees store carbon for a longer duration, and the resulting wood products often have longer lifespans.

A notable aspect of this project is its proponent structure. The project is held by The Trust Company (Australia) Limited as trustee for the Forestry Investment Trust (FIT). The Forestry Investment Trust is an investment vehicle managed by New Forests, a global investment manager specializing in sustainable forestry. FIT was notably the vehicle used to acquire significant hardwood plantation assets from the liquidated Great Southern Plantations in the early 2010s. This project likely represents an effort to optimize those existing assets for carbon sequestration alongside timber production.