Otway Silva 2025_1

Otway Silva 2025_1 is a plantation forestry project located in the Corangamite Shire within the Otway region of south-west Victoria, approximately 35km southwest of Colac. It was registered in October 2024 and initially covers an area of 2,173.55 hectares.

Plantation forestry projects involve sequestering carbon by establishing a new plantation forest or avoiding the conversion of an existing plantation to non-forested land. Standard requirements typically mandate planting trees at a sufficient stocking density to achieve robust forest cover, often reaching at least two meters in height and 20% canopy cover at maturity, while actively managing the forest for the commercial harvesting of wood products.

The broader Corangamite and Otway region is heavily utilized for highly productive dairy farming, livestock grazing, and commercial forestry operations. The local environment features a temperate climate with high rainfall, supported by fertile soils that commonly include clay loams and volcanic basalt-derived soils native to the region's extensive volcanic plains.

This project specifically sequesters carbon by establishing and maintaining a new plantation forest for commercial wood harvesting. A notable aspect of this project is its rapid expansion, with multiple variations successfully adding new land areas throughout 2025 (specifically in June, September, October, and November). The project is managed by Midway Plantations Pty Ltd on behalf of the proponent Otway Silva Pty Limited. Otway Silva is backed by MEAG, the asset management arm of Munich Re, which acquired a 17,000-hectare plantation estate in 2022 and committed an additional $200 million toward new hardwood plantation development across the region.