Cultura Australia Plantation Project No. 3

Cultura Australia Plantation Project No. 3 is a plantation forestry project located across multiple sites in the South West and Great Southern regions of Western Australia. Based on the coordinates, the areas fall within the shires of Bridgetown-Greenbushes and Cranbrook, situated approximately 90km southeast of Bunbury and 90km north of Albany, respectively. The project was registered in February 2026 and covers an area of 654.62 ha.

Plantation forestry projects within the ACCU scheme involve establishing new plantation forests, converting short-rotation plantations to long-rotation ones, or avoiding the conversion of existing plantations to non-forested land. Standard requirements dictate that projects must plant eligible tree species at sufficient stocking densities for commercial viability, maintain the forest sequence over a designated crediting period (typically 25 years), and undergo assessments by the Minister for Agriculture to ensure the new plantations do not have an undesirable impact on regional agricultural production.

The Bridgetown and Cranbrook regions are known for diverse agricultural land uses, including cattle and sheep grazing, broadacre cropping, viticulture, and commercial timber operations. The area typically experiences a Mediterranean climate characterised by medium to high winter rainfall, with the western sites near Bridgetown receiving over 700mm annually. Soils in the region generally consist of well-drained gravelly lateritic loams (ironstone gravels), sandy loams over clay, and deep sands.

This project sequesters carbon by establishing and maintaining a new plantation forest dedicated to the commercial harvesting of wood products. On April 22, 2026, a variation was applied to the project to add new land areas to its footprint. The proponent, Cultura Australia Pty Ltd, manages several similar forestry ACCU projects across Western Australia and recently received over $1 million in funding through the Australian Government's Support Plantation Establishment program to expand local softwood plantations.