Woodside Native Reforestation Project - Phase 5

Woodside Native Reforestation Project - Phase 5 is a large-scale, aggregated environmental planting project located across diverse agricultural regions of Western Australia. The project comprises multiple distinct properties dispersed throughout the state's South West and Wheatbelt regions. Key sites are situated near the towns of Donnybrook (approximately 200km south of Perth), Gingin (80km north of Perth), and Mukinbudin (300km northeast of Perth). Registered in February 2024, the project covers a significant area of 6,742 hectares.

The project operates under the Reforestation by Environmental or Mallee Plantings methodology. This involves establishing permanent forest cover using a mix of native tree and shrub species on land that was previously cleared for agriculture (typically grazing or cropping) for at least five years. Unlike commercial plantations, these trees are not harvested; they are planted specifically to sequester carbon and restore local ecosystems. The methodology utilizes the FullCAM model to estimate the amount of carbon stored in the growing biomass over time.

Due to the dispersed nature of the project properties, the environmental conditions vary significantly. The southern sites near Donnybrook generally experience a Mediterranean climate with high rainfall and productive loamy or clay soils, often supporting grazing and forestry. In contrast, the eastern sites in the Wheatbelt (Shire of Mount Marshall and Westonia) are semi-arid with lower rainfall and lighter sandy or granitic soils, a region traditionally dominated by broadacre cropping and sheep grazing.

This project is part of Woodside Energy’s broader corporate "Native Reforestation Project" portfolio, launched to offset the company's own emissions (insetting). Woodside typically partners with organizations like Greening Australia to manage these plantings, aiming to create biodiverse corridors that improve habitat connectivity for native fauna while generating Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs).