This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
SPECIALIST natural capital manager Climate Asset Management has acquired 1,800 hectares of sugar cane farmland in Queensland that it will transform into macadamia orchards.
The acquisition is the third large-scale land transformation project acquired by Climate Asset Management’s Natural Capital Fund, and the first in Australia.
Climate Asset Management will work with local operator Macadamia Farm Management on the project.
“This regenerative agriculture project will see the transformation of high-intensity former sugar-cane-farmed land into a sustainably managed, native and high-value, macadamia orchard, cultivated and harvested using regenerative practices and adopting a holistic land management approach,” Climate Asset Management said.
Water conservation will be feature, through efficiency strategies and precision agriculture techniques, and there will be an up to 50% reduction in synthetic fertiliser and chemical pesticide.
“The change in management practices is expected to have a positive knock-on impact on the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park by reducing chemical runoff and sediment,” according to the firm.
Ben O’Donnell, chief investment officer of Climate Asset Management, said the native macadamia project complements the fund’s existing Iberian projects in Spain and Portugal producing almonds and olives and “demonstrates the viability of our model across geographies”.
“We are experiencing increasing appetite from investors for opportunities in natural capital to help diversify and rebalance investment portfolios targeting net zero. We continue to raise and deploy funds for our Natural Capital strategy through a healthy pipeline of projects in ANZ, North America and Europe.”
He said Climate Asset Management is “working with an experienced local operating partner that is an industry leader in all aspects of cultivating and growing macadamias”.
Scott Allcott, managing director of Macadamia Farm Management, added, “We are excited to have the opportunity to partner with Climate Asset Management and be involved in this large-scale conversion of land use from sugarcane to macadamias.
“Combining the propagation of a native species endemic to the region on such a large scale will create local and community involvement in all aspects.”
The project, located between two national parks, will allocate around 10% of land area to native habitat restoration. The restoration project will target propagation of a critically endangered flora species as well as a range of other species and improve connectivity between the national parks. The project is planning partnerships with a range of stakeholders and a local herbarium.
The project aims to achieve net zero for Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030 and to generate additional carbon removal units through increasing carbon storage in above and below-ground biomass. It also aims to advance the understanding of carbon removal by perennial agriculture systems.
