ACO also has an option for two further 10-year terms for 1,459 hectares of abandoned plantations on Melville Island and Bathurst Island.ACO has established research programs to study the best way to replace the trees which are harvested.Future plantations will be established on Melville and Bathurst Islands, which will have long-term benefits for the Tiwi people of this area.

• The vision is to produce this essential oil in a way which works with the land, and doesn't carelessly exploit or damage that land - or its valuable indigenous plant life.

ACO takes no Callitris intratropica from the wild. Eco-harmony is maintained, since only plantation-grown trees are harvested and distilled. The natural ecology of the surrounding country is maintained. ACO has worked closely with the Northern Territory Government to access the mainland blocks of abandoned Callitris intratropica plantations. Together, they are developing a strategic resource development plan for the ACO mainland plantations at Gunn Point and Howard Springs on the outskirts of Darwin, and 'Radio Block', the site where trials of many different species were carried out before the original plantations were established.

• From the moment we recognised the great potential of the native Australian Northern Cypress tree, we have worked to introduce its extraordinary powers to the world.

Originally, Australian Government plantations of Blue Cypress were established in the 1960s and 1970s to utilise the timber as a construction material. After these were abandoned due to the devastation wrought to timber housing by the 1974 Cyclone Tracy, ACO pioneer Bill McGilvray recognised their potential as a sustainable source of an as-yet undiscovered essential oil. Blue Cypress Oil is the only blue essential oil which has a woody, smoky fragrance. All other natural blue oils are flower oils (i.e., Chamomile, Matricaria, Artemisia and Tansy) and lack the fragrance of Blue Cypress Oil. The blue colour is aesthetically important, with positive connotations in many cultures.

• Our vision is to do it right! Rather than making wild claims about the qualities of the essential oil based on anecdotal or empirical evidence, we are slowly building up clinical scientific data to a point where we can make solid therapeutic claims - rather than jeopardising our scientific investigation by making premature exaggerated statements.

We believe there are good opportunities for marketing Blue Cypress Oil as a viable alternative in many cosmetic applications and as a viable future therapeutic alternative.
No claims are being made for the oil as an active ingredient - which has hampered the legitimate reputation of other emerging essential oils.
Our goal is to progressively build on the foundation we already have, and to release scientifically validated data as it becomes available, pointing to new uses for Blue Cypress Oil. Watch this space!

• Blue Cypress Oil is an absolutely new essential oil for commercial use. The ACO plantations represent the first time the blue oil has been produced commercially anywhere in the world.

The 3,000 hectares of Northern Territory plantations which are managed and harvested by ACO are the only existing commercially viable plantations in the world.
Apart from producing Blue Cypress Oil and Cypressence, use is made of the entire tree. Wood chip derived from clearing out abandoned plantations and through the distillation process, is sold on the Darwin market for use as garden mulch. Other uses are being investigated.

• To begin, we have registered Blue Cypress Oil in Australia only as a Cosmetic Excipient. This means it is suitable for use in cosmetics and perfumes, has no adverse effects on the skin, particularly at formulated product concentrations.