Stockdale Park Carbon Project

Stockdale Park Carbon Project is a plantation forestry project spanning multiple sites across Victoria, including locations in the Otways near Colac, Western Victoria near Hamilton, and the Gippsland region near Traralgon. It was registered in August 2023 and covers an initial area of 2,785.55 hectares.

Plantation forestry projects generate carbon credits by establishing new plantation forests or converting existing short-rotation plantation forests to long-rotation forests for the commercial harvesting of wood products. This methodology requires adherence to specific management actions, such as maintaining viable stocking densities and following a designated commercial harvesting regime to ensure long-term carbon sequestration.

The regional environments encompassing this project typically feature moderate to high rainfall which is ideal for commercial timber growth. Soils across these dispersed sites vary, but generally consist of fertile loams, deep volcanic basalts, and clay subsoils. The land across these regions is predominantly used for a combination of sheep and cattle grazing, broadacre cropping, and extensive commercial forestry operations.

A notable aspect of this project is its proponent, Hancock Victorian Plantations (HVP Plantations), one of Australia's largest private timber producers. HVP is currently expanding its softwood estate under initiatives like the Gippsland Plantations Investment Program to help offset the closure of Victoria's native forestry industry. This continuous expansion is reflected in the project's history, which shows over a dozen land area variations adding new parcels to the project estate between May 2024 and June 2026.