Big Hill Carbon Project 2025

Big Hill Carbon Project 2025 is a Plantation Forestry project located near the rural locality of Big Hill in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, approximately 40km northeast of Goulburn and just north of Marulan. It was registered in October 2025 and covers an area of 1,859.39 hectares.

Projects operating under the Plantation Forestry methodology sequester carbon by establishing new plantation forests, or converting short-rotation plantations to long-rotation ones, specifically for the commercial harvesting of wood products. Standard requirements for these projects involve planting and maintaining forests at a specific commercial stocking density and undertaking long-term forest management practices to ensure sustainable timber production alongside measurable carbon abatement.

The Big Hill and greater Upper Lachlan Shire region is traditionally characterized by agricultural activities, predominantly sheep and cattle grazing, as well as native national parks and forestry operations. The environment features a moderate to high rainfall climate, typically receiving near 791mm annually. Soils in this Southern Tablelands region generally consist of podzolic clay loams and lithosols that are highly suitable for robust timber and softwood growth.

An interesting fact about this project is its backing by natural asset manager New Forests, via the Australia New Zealand Landscapes and Forestry Fund (ANZLAFF). ANZLAFF is a $600 million fund supported by major institutional investors from Europe and the Asia-Pacific. The fund takes a "whole of landscape" approach that aims to seamlessly combine agriculture, forestry, and carbon projects to maximize both land value and environmental outcomes. The project also aligns with government-supported initiatives, the proponent entity recently received grant funding under the Australian Government's Support Plantation Establishment program to further expand the national softwood plantation estate.