Plantation and environmental plantings ACCU areas up140%
Land footprint increases sharply across ACCU forestry methods
For both of these ACCU methods the project registration count tells a consistent growth story, but when looking at the land area covered by these projects the story is of accelerated growth. Plantation carbon projects now represent more than 10% of Australian commercial plantations by land area.
In an article by Quantum Commodity Intelligence, Carbon Eyes CEO Lionel Waker shares a few thoughts about what is behind the change.
Graph shows project areas added by year
Area growth outpaces project counts in a major shift across the ACCU market
Plantation and Environmental Plantings projects under the ACCU scheme are expanding rapidly. In 2025, land area growth hit 140%, with plantation projects now covering over 10% of Australia’s commercial estate.
The Australian ACCU market is seeing more than steady growth and it's scaling fast. Environmental Plantings added 144,224 hectares in 2025, up from 60,745 hectares the year before. Plantation Forestry grew by 77,767 hectares, more than double 2024’s increase*.
“When corporates start doing projects, they do them at scale compared to maybe five years ago when it was typically a landowner using part of the farm for EP,”
Environmental Planding activity is strong in New England and southern NSW while Plantations are picking up in western Tasmania, Victoria and south western Australia. “This year is going to be bigger for Plantation projects,” Lionel said, highlighting recent AUD $81 million investment from CEFC and River Capital on the Tiwi Islands.
Soil carbon projects, he noted, are a “dark horse”. Queensland is emerging as a hotspot, where favourable soils and suboptimal farming make these projects easier to implement.
“I do think the number of credits you’re going to see per project will start increasing not only because the projects are generally larger in size but also because I think people are getting better at figuring out where to do soil projects and where not to do them,”
Carbon Eyes has also launched a map-based ACCU project explorer and plans to add project-level ratings in 2026.
“We’ve got the methodology and we are ratings projects in the background, but we’re going to be pretty slow and strategic in releasing those and consult with the proponents as we do so,”
Lionel also highlighted the limits of global rating models in Australia:
“Their model doesn’t work particularly well... You can tell by the prices of ACCUs that not all methods are perceived to be of the same quality. We just want to formalise what the market is saying.”
According to Quantum Commodity Intelligence, the doubling of Environmental and Plantation project areas in 2025 reflects a mix of corporate demand, policy settings, and large-scale investment. Quantum notes that upcoming policy decisions and new methodologies could further shape ACCU supply and prices.
The acceleration in forestry-based ACCU methods reflects several forces:
Clearer method settings compared to earlier uncertainty
Growing corporate demand for removals
Landholders seeking diversified revenue streams
Increasing familiarity with long-term carbon project structures
For landholders, investors and policymakers, we are seeing the growth is not just about project numbers. Land areas for carbon projects are clear those hectares are moving quickly.
*For area analysis, Carbon Estimation Areas provide the most accurate dataset. They reflect the actual land declared for carbon accounting rather than the broader project boundary. However, they are not yet available for all ACCU projects, which means any whole-of-market view still requires careful interpretation.
Check out our blog article Who is paying for carbon projects in Australia discussing fund–backed ACCU activity and what it means for investors.
References
Quantum Commodity Intelligence article: Forestry-based new ACCU project area doubled in 2025: analyst
note: Carbon Estimation Areas are a more accurate data set for area growth analysis but are not available for all ACCU projectsCarbon Eyes ACCU project register and project level analytics
Carbon Eyes market commentary on ACCU project activity and issuance trends
Want to know more?
Check out New environmental planting project to boost ACCU supply discussing what large-scale plantings tell us about supply.
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