Cooksvale East Reforestation Project

Cooksvale East Reforestation Project is an environmental planting project located at the "Cooksvale East" property in Peelwood, approximately 55km from Crookwell and 99km from Goulburn in the Upper Lachlan Shire of NSW. It was registered in May 2025 and originally covered an area of 222.11 hectares, with additional areas incorporated into the project via a variation on 4 November 2025.

The project falls under the Reforestation by Environmental or Mallee Plantings (FullCAM) 2024 methodology. Environmental planting projects of this type involve establishing and maintaining permanent, mixed-species native plantings. Standard requirements for this methodology dictate that the selected tree and shrub species must reflect the structure and composition of the local native vegetation community and be established at sufficient densities to eventually achieve permanent forest cover (typically requiring at least 20% crown cover and a potential height of 2 metres).

The Peelwood and broader Upper Lachlan region is historically known for agricultural production, predominantly entry-level sheep and cattle grazing on native and improved pastures. The project area is situated in a high rainfall zone, receiving an average annual rainfall of approximately 764mm. The soils in this local area primarily consist of granite-derived brown, yellow, and red sandy loams.

Originally registered under the proponent Fresh Earth Agriculture Pty Ltd, the project underwent a participant name variation in late November 2025 to The Trustee for Red Hill Trust. The underlying property features a blend of productive creek flats along Cooks Vale Creek rising to steep, timbered hills, making it a prime candidate to balance historical grazing pursuits with modern biodiversity conservation and carbon farming initiatives.