In a first for the Australian plantation forest sector, Forico and CO2 Australia have secured the opportunity to enter into a long-term contract to sell carbon credits generated from plantation forestry activities to the Australian Government under its $2.55 billion Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF).

Stehendes Holz

Forico enters contract with environmental services firm CO2 Australia

In a first for the Australian plantation forest sector, Forico and CO2 Australia have secured the opportunity to enter into a long-term contract to sell carbon credits generated from plantation forestry activities to the Australian Government under its $2.55 billion Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF).

“This is a significant milestone for the plantation forest sector in Australia as the carbon market is recognising the ability of Australian timber plantations to be a part of the country’s response to climate change. This also adds carbon credits to the balance sheet of plantation forests, supporting Forico in how we manage our forests for multiple values and providing economic incentives for increasing carbon sequestration,” said Bryan Hayes, CEO of Forico.

The Australian Government recently approved a Plantation Forestry Method under the ERF, which, for the first time in the history of federal Australian climate change policy, allows for the recognition of carbon sequestration in new and longer-rotation plantation forests as well as the carbon stored in wood products.

Forico is the first forest manager in Australia approved under the ERF, with an application to register a project in north-east Tasmania approved by the Clean Energy Regulator and a Carbon Abatement Contract secured at the latest ERF auction.

The project will see Forico assign 630 hectares into a new project based on developing long-term pine plantations – which means a greater volume of carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere and stored in the plantation and ultimately in the wood products it produces. In total the project is expected to deliver up to 68,959 tonnes of CO2e climate abatement over 10 years.

Forico is Tasmania’s largest private forest management company and manages a 180,000-hectare certified forest estate on behalf of New Forests, a Sydney-based timberland investment manager.