Dart Plantation Forestry Carbon Project

Dart Plantation Forestry Carbon Project is a plantation forestry project located in the rugged highlands near Waratah, approximately 63 kilometers south-southwest of Burnie in northwest Tasmania. Registered in December 2025, the project covers approximately 216 hectares of land in a region heavily utilized for commercial forestry and known for its rich mining history. The project is managed by John Dart Pty Ltd, with Climate Friendly Pty Ltd acting as a participant.

The project operates under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative-Plantation Forestry) Methodology Determination 2022. Specifically, it involves the "transitioning of existing plantation forest to a permanent planting." This activity type generates carbon credits by maintaining forest cover on land that was previously a commercial plantation and was at risk of being converted to non-forested land (such as pasture for grazing) or harvested. By legally protecting the trees as a permanent forest, the stored carbon is sequestered long-term rather than released through harvesting.

The Waratah region is characterized by a cool, wet climate, classified as high rainfall with annual precipitation often exceeding 2,000mm. The landscape supports dense vegetation, including rainforest species and eucalypt plantations. Soils in Tasmania's northwest forestry regions are typically red Ferrosols (derived from basalt), which are deep, free-draining, and highly fertile, though the specific project site near Savage River National Park may also feature mineral-rich acidic soils common to the mining belt.

The proponent, John Dart, is a well-known figure in Tasmanian primary industries, recognized as a large-scale beef producer and an active investor in private forestry. He has been featured in case studies by Private Forests Tasmania for his integrated approach to land management, often combining cattle grazing with timber production and carbon farming on properties such as his Levendale estate. This project likely represents a continuation of that strategy, leveraging carbon finance to retain forest cover on land that might otherwise have been cleared for agricultural expansion.