FullCAM

• What you'll need to run an EP simulation
• When to use FullCAM

FullCAM stands for Full Carbon Accounting Model, a sophisticated modelling tool developed by the Australian Government's Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW). It plays a key role in estimating and tracking carbon stocks and flows across Australia’s forests and agricultural landscapes.

FullCAM integrates a wide range of data sources, including:

• climate information
• land use and land management data
• vegetation and soil carbon dynamics

In other words, it simulates carbon in forests and other vegetation over time, tracking growth, litter and soil carbon, and emissions from events like wildfire or prescribed burns. It is used to quantify net greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration from land-based activities, estimating how many tonnes of CO₂-equivalent (tCO₂e) your project will sequester.

In carbon farming projects, FullCAM helps model how changes in land management, such as reforestation, avoided clearing, or improved soil practices, can alter carbon storage over time. 

What you’ll need to run an EP simulation

• Your map: Where the project is, how it’s split into CEAs, and anything you’re excluding (roads, waterways, buildings, non‑forest areas).
• Key dates: The planting date (this is the model’s start date) and the end date of the reporting period you’re claiming.
• Location details: Use FullCAM’s spatial lookup to pull climate/region info for your site. Set the forest category and fill in the site fields the template asks for.

• Species setup: Pick the Environmental Plantings calibration that matches your planting. If you used a mixed‑species design, choose the correct mixed‑species option.

  Note that your planting pattern and expected density (stems per hectare) are recorded in your reforestation management plan. FullCAM 2020 doesn’t have a direct ‘stems/ha’ input as the density requirements apply under the method (e.g., belts ≥800 stems/ha; blocks ≥200 stems/ha). If density changes (e.g., infill or thinning), model that with events (e.g., thinning of forest) and keep evidence of the area/percent affected.

The EP Method Determination includes a whole division on stocking density, default values for tubestock vs direct seeding, and how to sample/verify density when a calibration requires it.

• On‑ground events: Add what actually happened: establishment, any thinning, wildfires (note whether trees were killed or not), and prescribed burns. If an event only affected part of an area, record the percentage affected.
• Outputs to save: Select the outputs the guideline requires (e.g., biomass carbon, debris & soil pools, fire emissions) and export the CSV files for your records.

When to use FullCAM 

Under the Reforestation by Environmental or Mallee Plantings (EP) FullCAM 2024 method, it’s the required tool for estimating sequestration and calculating abatement for each CEA (Carbon Estimation Area), and include model outputs in your Reforestation Management Plan and offset reports.

Below outlines where FullCAM may be relevant across an EP project lifecycle:

1. Feasibility Assessment (optional but recommended)

   Run indicative simulations to assess sequestration potential and commercial viability. This isn’t a legislative step, but it informs your business case and site selection.

2. Project design (optional but recommended)

   Use targeted simulations (species mixes, planting density, ecological infill strategy, fire risk) to populate the Reforestation Management Plan and ensure the inputs you intend to report are method‑compliant.

3. Registration (required)

   You must submit a Forward Abatement Estimate (FAE) with your application. The Clean Energy Regulator uses the FAE to set your audit schedule. 

4. Offset reporting (required)

   For each reporting period, create and run a FullCAM simulation for each CEA in the 90 days before you submit your offsets report, including any management activities and disturbance events that occurred. Include the specified outputs in your report to calculate net abatement. ACCUs are issued after the Regulator receives an offsets report that meets legislative requirements and approves your certificate of entitlement.

Wrapping up

FullCAM is the engine behind how EP projects turn on‑ground actions into ACCUs: you plan with it, register with a forward estimate, and report each period so the model reflects what actually happened on site.