Alternative asset manager Gresham House, Aviva Investors, the global asset management business of Aviva plc, and Clean Energy Finance Corporation, Australia’s specialist climate investor, have launched a €1.31m platform to invest in sustainable plantation forestry in Tasmania.
The Tasmania Natural Asset Trust, which will be managed by Gresham House Asset Management, has been established with investments from the three organisations. The platform’s cornerstone asset is Rushy Lagoon, a 21,745-hectare property in northern Tasmania.
The project combines commercial softwood plantations on lower-productivity land with large-scale conservation, ecological restoration and sustainable grazing. It is also expected to generate Australian Carbon Credit Units (tradeable certificates issued by the Australian government) while protecting a wetland recognised under the Ramsar Convention.
Radiata pine grown through the project will be processed by Tasmanian sawmills and supplied to the domestic market, helping ease timber supply constraints and reduce pressure on native forests. Sustainable agricultural activities will continue on designated parts of the property.
According to the partners, the investment is expected to support Tasmania’s forestry sector and regional economy by creating employment opportunities for contractors, sawmill operators, field surveyors and planting crews.
Over the life of the project, more than 190 jobs are expected to be created, compared with the 19 currently supported by the property. The development is also projected to produce around five million tonnes of timber and 3.2 million Australian Carbon Credit Units.
The timber will be certified under either the Forest Stewardship Council or the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification standards and supplied to Tasmanian sawmills to help address shortages of construction timber in the Australian housing market.
