Rooney's Plantation

Rooney's Plantation is a Plantation Forestry carbon project located near the rural locality of Ellendale, approximately 70 kilometers northwest of Hobart, Tasmania. Registered in June 2025, the project encompasses roughly 345 hectares of land in the Derwent Valley region. The surrounding landscape is characterized by a mix of intensive agriculture, particularly hops and grazing, alongside significant commercial forestry operations typical of the Central Highlands' fringes.

The project operates under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative-Plantation Forestry) Methodology Determination 2022. This specific project combines two key activities: preventing the conversion of an existing plantation into non-forested land (such as pasture) and transitioning the forest from a short-rotation cycle to a long-rotation cycle. In practical terms, this means the proponent, Eastern Tiers Pty Ltd, has committed to retaining the forest rather than clearing it and will manage the trees for sawlog production (harvested at 25+ years) rather than pulpwood (harvested at ~15 years). This extension allows the trees to sequester carbon for a significantly longer period.

The environment in this part of the Derwent Valley is ideally improving for forestry, featuring a cool temperate climate with moderate to high annual rainfall. The soils in the region are typically well-drained Dermosols or Podzols, which support the vigorous growth of commercial species like Pinus radiata or Eucalyptus nitens. By moving to a long-rotation model, the project aims to produce high-value timber products while generating ACCUs through the additional carbon stored in the maturing timber stand.