Otway Silva 2024 Carbon Project_1

Otway Silva 2024 Carbon Project_1 is a plantation forestry project located in the Otway region, approximately 50km south-west of Colac in Victoria. It was registered in December 2023 and currently covers 877.89 hectares, with additional land incorporated into the project area through variations in March and June 2024.

Plantation forestry projects generate carbon credits by establishing new commercial plantations, converting existing short-rotation plantations to long-rotation forests, or maintaining plantations at risk of conversion to agricultural land. Standard requirements include planting trees at a sufficient stocking density to achieve true forest cover and managing the forest specifically for the commercial harvesting of wood products. This specific project sequesters carbon exclusively by establishing and maintaining a new plantation forest.

The south-west Victoria and Otway Ranges region is well known for intensive dairy farming, sheep and cattle grazing, and extensive commercial forestry operations. The area experiences a temperate, high-rainfall climate, and soils in this region are generally a highly fertile mix of rich volcanic basalts, clay loams, and sandy loams over clay.

Interestingly, the project proponent, Otway Silva Pty Limited, is an entity backed by the German insurance giant Munich Re via its asset manager, MEAG. In 2022, Otway Silva acquired Midway Limited's 17,000-hectare Victorian plantation estate for $154.1 million and committed a further $200 million to develop new hardwood plantations across the region. The project operates with Midway Plantations Pty Ltd acting as a key participant and manager, leaning on their expertise as one of Australia's largest woodfibre processors.