A million trees planted for Tasmania's carbon forestry initiative

IN a significant milestone for Tasmania’s carbon forestry initiative, more than one million trees have been planted across nearly 1000 hectares of land statewide by Tasmanian plantation and natural asset management company SFM. 

The initiative is estimated to sequester more than 300,000 tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere. 

To celebrate their achievement, SFM hosted a field day at the Bloomfield farm in Gretna last week. T

he event provided an opportunity for local landowners and farmers to learn about the initiative, ask questions, and observe a carbon plantation project in action. 

Bloomfield farm is a sev enth-generation farm owned by Susie and Michael Parsons, who have been involved in the ActivAcre program delivered by SFM since earlier this year. 

The Parsons collaborated with ActivAcre to explore opportunities for leasing land for tree planting, which in turn would contribute to Tasmania’s carbon offset goals. 

SFM Managing Director Andrew Morgan said the local initiative allowed farmers to optimise their land and diversify their on-farm revenue, providing them with a reliable source of income. 

“But of course the benefits of ActivAcre flow well beyond the farmer – plantation forestry is recognised globally as a key tool to mitigate climate change, capturing carbon in soil and vegetation,” Mr Morgan said. 

Mr Morgan said across Australia, sourcing larger parcels of suitable land was becoming harder, making aggregation essential, where multiple smaller land holdings are classed together to make one asset. 

“With the successful completion of our first full year of planting and our 2025 program nearing capacity, we are now seeking expressions of interest from landowners for our 2026 planting” he said. 

Mrs Parsons said the farm was already benefiting from the financial return of leasing their land and could see the future opportunities it presented, both for their own property and for the environment. 

“The additional value proposition of planting trees is the creation of shade and shelter belts, which can increase pasture production as well as improving water efficiency, soil quality and reducing salinity, waterlogging and erosion,” Mrs Parsons said.