Landari Highland Lakes 2025

Landari Highland Lakes 2025 is a plantation forestry project located in the Central Highlands of Tasmania, situated across multiple properties roughly 10 to 20km from the historic township of Bothwell. Registered in July 2025, the project initially covered 1576.63 hectares before a variation in December 2025 added further land to the project area. The proponent, Peter Downie, is a prominent sixth-generation Tasmanian grazier operating the 24,000-hectare "Dungrove" property. The project is managed in conjunction with Arjan Wilkie of Landari, a forestry and spatial analysis firm.

Plantation forestry projects under the 2022 Methodology Determination sequester carbon by establishing new plantations, converting short-rotation crops to long-rotation crops, or maintaining an existing plantation. In this specific project, carbon is sequestered by avoiding the conversion of a harvested or existing plantation to non-forested land. Instead, a new plantation forest is established and maintained for the commercial harvesting of wood products.

The Central Highlands and Bothwell region are traditionally known for their extensive cattle and sheep grazing operations, as well as forestry. The environmental conditions in this part of Tasmania's midlands often experience a rain-shadow effect, resulting in a semi-arid, lower rainfall climate compared to the state's coastal areas. Soils in the region typically include shallow brown soils derived from dolerite, as well as nutrient-poor and erodible soils developed over Permian and Triassic sedimentary rock.

An interesting note about the proponent is that the Downie family has farmed the region for over 150 years. Following the crash of the wool market in the 1990s, Peter Downie began diversifying his land usage by integrating forestry carbon projects. In addition to carbon farming, Downie is a forward-thinker in the renewable energy sector, championing local developments such as the Cattle Hill Wind Farm, the Cellar Hills Wind Farm, and the Weasel Solar Farm, a project that incorporates solar panels raised high enough to allow sheep to continue grazing underneath.