Sustainability
Pure intentions inspire us to innovate – rigorous processes guarantee we deliver.
As world leaders in sustainably grown and sourced Indian Sandalwood, our vision is to make authentic products available for future generations to enjoy.
PROVENANCE
The Indian sandalwood (Santalum album) species has remained on the ICUN Threatened Species red list since 1998, and despite conservation efforts, the native population has continued to decline according to the most recent Global Tree Assessment, conducted by Botanic Gardens Conservations International (September 2021).
Whilst native populations have dwindled in India due to hundreds of years of over-harvesting, our plantations in the pristine far north of Australia are one of the world’s only sustainable sources of this sacred tree.
TRACEABILITY
Reaching across each element of growing, harvesting and distilling Indian sandalwood, we are able to trace each step in the life of our trees and verify their authenticity for the benefit of our customers and end-market consumers.
By operating a vertically integrated farm, we minimise our impact on the planet and provide transparency to our customers about where their products come from and how they are made.
CARBON
Copperhead is leading the charge in sustainable sandalwood as the first sandalwood company in the Australia to be Climate Active Certified for business operations.
Climate Active represents a commitment between the government, companies, and consumers to maintain the authenticity of carbon neutral claims.
Our emission reduction strategy involves taking action to minimise our carbon footprint and invest in verified Carbon Offset projects to balance carbon emissions.
You can read more about our certification below.
Biodiversity
One of the environmental benefits of farming Indian sandalwood is that by virtue of its parasitic nature, it requires up to four host trees in order to flourish.
The abundant biodiversity that comes with planting various species of trees within the plantation creates a rich eco-system of wildlife and forest-health, which feed each other – a phenomenon not usually associated with plantation farming.
WATER
Our sandalwood plantations in Kununurra are irrigated with the water supplied to the Ord River region by the mighty Lake Argyle and our farms in North Queensland have been strategically positioned to tap into abundant water resources, rather than depleting scarce resources or extracting from subterranean artesian wells.
During the Kununurra wet season, enough fresh water to supply Perth for 10 years is captured by the Lake Argyle system. Between October and February, the gates to Lake Argyle open, allowing roughly 2,500 gigalitres of water a day to pass through, whilst limiting flooding of adjacent land. During the dry season the gates close to allow for water storage and diversion to the irrigation channels, ensuring a year-round supply of water.
HARVESTING
&
WOOD PROCESSING
Our harvesting operations are managed in partnership with the local Indigenous community, providing stable employment opportunities to East Kimberley locals.
Once harvested, the sapwood is removed partially by hand to ensure that no heartwood, the oil-bearing part of the tree, is overlooked.
We make sure that every part of the tree is used, not just the heartwood. Our “waste” products – hydrosol, spent charge, and sapwood – have the unique appeal to be given second lives in cosmetics, incense, and as biofuel.
DISTILLATION
Copperhead’s distillation process is unique to other suppliers who often distil sandalwood with the sapwood on, preferring to wash the oil several times in order to reach the desired specifications.
By removing sapwood and maximising the amount of pure heartwood per distillation, we’ve been able to manage a 33% reduction of water usage and achieve higher-quality hydrosol by-product.
Our
CERTIFICATIONS
INDEPENDENT CERTIFICATIONS ALLOW THE INDUSTRY TO RECOGNISE AUTHENTIC ETHICAL PRACTICES, SUSTAINABILITY, CARBON OFFSETTING.
WE STRIVE TO DO OUR BEST BY THE ENVIRONMENT, THOSE WHO WORK WITH US, AND OUR COMMUNITY.
CLIMATE ACTIVE
WE ARE THE FIRST INDIAN SANDALWOOD COMPANY IN THE WORLD TO BE CLIMATE ACTIVE CERTIFIED FOR OUR BUSINESS OPERATIONS.
WHAT IS CLIMATE ACTIVE?
Climate Active is a unique government backed program that enables businesses to measure, reduce and legitimately offset their carbon emissions. They provide the most rigorous certification available, helping businesses measure their emissions, reduce these where possible and then offset the remains.
OUR OFFSET PROJECTS
Carbon offsetting is a way for organisations to cancel out carbon emissions they are not able to eliminate, by investing in projects that reduce or remove emissions.
Our carbon offset projects are audited to ascertain their legitimacy and validity. We’re proud to be supporting two such projects – the Moolakar Human-Induced Regeneration Project and the Merepah Fire Project.
About the Merepah Fire Project
Owned by the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation, this project adopts an emissions avoidance method using a fire management system. The northern tropical savannas are among the most fire-prone ecosystems in the world, Traditional Owners must conduct savanna burning to reduce wildfires and manage country. All savanna fires emit greenhouse gases, but research has clearly shown that it’s the late dry season wildfires that emit much greater levels due to their intensity. The co-benefits of this project are exceptional with 100% of the proceeds from the sale of credits going towards Indigenous businesses. In addition, the project creates many jobs for local Indigenous workers.
About the Moolakar Human-Induced Regeneration Project
Moolakar Station is located Northwest of Bourke in NSW in the Mulga Lands bioregion. The project regenerates natural woodlands and shrublands. This is achieved by controlled grazing and feral animal management across the project area along with fencing upgrades.
In addition to sequestering carbon, regeneration of native vegetation in the project area reverses land degradation caused by feral goats and livestock and stabilises soils reducing erosion. To date, the project has sequestered 394,455 tonnes of Co2 and the most recent project audit was completed in November last year, reaffirming the projects validity.
AUSTRALIAN GROWN AND MADE
All of our Indian sandalwood products are grown and made in Australia.
Australia has become one of the world’s only sustainable source of the sacred Indian sandalwood species as result of reckless harvesting of native populations in the Mysore sandalwood forests.
Ecovadis Certified
Our company has been audited and awarded by EcoVadis, a globally renowned and trusted provider of sustainability and ethics ratings for businesses.
Their rating assessment is an extremely comprehensive audit, covering 21 criteria across four core themes – environment, ethics, labour and human rights, and sustainable procurement.
