From the Vault: Plantation Carbon Forestry in Australia with Andrew Morgan

What this episode covers

The ForestLink newsletter sign-upSFM AgribusinessFrom the Asset Vault: In this conversation, I'm joined by Andrew Morgan, Managing Director of SFM Agribusiness, one of Australia’s leading forest management operators - both for traditional timberland management and more recently, in plantation forest carbon projects. We explore the evolution of Australia’s compliance carbon forestry market and the benefits and challenges of the system's standards and methodological approaches for generating Australian Carbon Credit Units (or ACCUs). Andrew explains the mechanism of the market, pricing, and who the main buyers are. He goes on to describe SFM's “ActivAcre” model and how it is enabling landowners to partner with institutional investors for new forest investments. Andrew walks us through the logistic, regulatory, and social factors impacting land aggregation and how carbon credits are reshaping institutional forestry portfolios in Australia."If you'd asked me 3 or 4 years ago, carbon and a carbon strategy weren't even considered by most institutional investors when looking at larger assets. It's now a really important part of the value. Traditionally, it was the land and the tree crop. There's now land, tree crop, and carbon. And it could be forming 20 - 30% of the total valuation."00:12 – Introduction and guest overview00:48 – Andrew Morgan's background and SFM Agribusiness03:17 – History of carbon forestry in Australia06:31 – The four plantation carbon methodologies explained09:06 – Why Australia needs more plantation forests10:46 – How Australia's carbon market works13:48 – Carbon credit buyers and market demand15:20 – Voluntary vs compliance carbon markets16:22 – Strengths and weaknesses of the compliance system20:39 – Future supply and demand for Australian carbon credits21:50 – Lessons from developing plantation carbon projects23:44 – The Active Acre landowner partnership model29:37 – Landowner engagement and scaling plantations30:52 – Landowner concerns and long-term risk35:21 – Institutional investor perspectives38:39 – Evaluating land and building project pipelines40:51 – Why major emitters invest directly in carbon projects42:22 – Unlocking Australia's plantation forestry potential44:34 – Emerging trends in carbon, biomass and biodiversity48:51 – Advice for new forest investors50:11 – Closing remarks and where to learn moreFounding Director and Host: Shauna Matkovich - The ForestLinkProducer and Editor: Magdalena Laas - Unscripted CreativesNature by MaxKoMusic/SoundcloudSopwell Woodlands and Scohaboy Bog SAC, Cloughjordan, Co Tipperary, IRELAND by wild_rumpus/SoundcloudAmbient Documentary by Sound Guru (Pixabay)Sign up now for the ForestLink’s newsletter, where you’ll receive technical advice, reflections, and best-practice guidance to support you with your forest-linked investment strategy or business straight to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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