Australia’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation and its investment partner River Capital have committed $81 million to support a First Nations‑led plantation forestry and carbon project on the Tiwi Islands, amounting to one of the most significant nature‑based carbon investments ever undertaken in Australia.
The project, which is owned by the Indigenous‑owned Tiwi Plantations Corporation and managed by Midway Pty Ltd, will establish new long‑rotation plantations of native species to generate high‑integrity Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs), supplying millions of cubic metres of high‑value timber products that the project partners believe could replace native timbers in furniture, decking and housing.
According to Kim Puruntatameri, Chair of the Tiwi Plantations Corporation, the project is about looking after the land for the next generation: “If we work together as one, we’re going to get there… Tiwi knowledge and our culture are the most important things; we need to pass the knowledge on to our grandkids.”
Puruntatameri has been involved in the project for more than 15 years and has played a key role in shifting the plantations from earlier commercial models established in 1986 — when the Northern Territory ended its involvement with forestry on the Tiwi Islands — through to 2010, when he, along with Gibson Farmer Illortaminni, helped establish the Tiwi Plantations Corporation.
For Heechung Sung, the CEFC’s Head of Natural Capital, the new investment demonstrates how Indigenous‑led forestry can play a critical role in Australia’s low‑carbon transition. “We are incredibly proud to support and empower the Tiwi Islands communities to achieve greater economic equity in the energy transition,” she said.
“Sustainable forestry plays an important role in Australia’s low‑carbon future, and with this project, we are creating new commercial investment models for meaningful collaboration with Indigenous communities.”
Heechung Sung, the CEFC’s Head of Natural Capital, who said the inititive is “a unique opportunity to restore productive forest ecosystems using native species, delivering lasting carbon, environmental and economic outcomes.”
Wood Central understands the project will cover more than 30,000 hectares of Eucalyptus pellita (or Red mahogany), a species native to northeastern Queensland, and is expected to generate more than five million ACCUs — a substantial sum given ACCUs are currently valued at $35 and $40 per unit.
“This is very exciting that we have been able to introduce the CEFC and River Capital into the project,” according to Tony McKenna, Midway’s CEO, who spoke to the ABC NT Country Hour this afternoon, adding that the carbon markets have changed the economics of planting trees. “You get carbon revenue up‑front, which helps the economics before you get income from harvesting and selling products.”
McKenna said the Australian Carbon Model proposed by Professor Andrew McIntosh reinforced the importance of plantation forestry: “When you plant a tree, you can see exactly where that carbon is sequestered. It’s in the wood product, and then it goes on and stays in that wood product throughout its life.”
And on the decision to plant Eucalyptus pellita: “There have been trials on the island for 20 years… it produces a straight stem which is very good for the wood products, the growth rate and survival rates have dealt well with cyclones.”
“As we see native forestry being shut down across Australia, we see an opportunity for our Eucalyptus pellita to replace that native wood product that is being used in furniture, decking and in construction.”
Tony McKenna, Midway’s CEO, said that native Australian species are now the preferred plantation species in several Southeast Asian countries.
Wood Central understands the scale of the development could lift Australia’s total plantation estate by two per cent, and help meet growing local and international demand for high‑quality timber. The first two stages have already been registered with the Clean Energy Regulator, generating an estimated 865,000 ACCUs, and McKenna has also confirmed that the first seedlings have now been established.
All going to plan, the new project is expected to produce 12 million cubic metres of high‑value wood products, supporting long‑term carbon storage by using sustainable timber in construction and reducing pressure on native forests and adds to a growing CEFC portfolio of natural‑capital investments, including major commitments to agriculture, carbon platforms and plantation expansion.
