California’s ECO2 Forests Inc. has agreed to sell carbon credits earned from carbon-capture projects planted in Australia and neighboring islands worth $3.75 million to CarbonX Trade Inc.

The subsidiary of Colorado-based Green Ventures Future Fund will receive approximately 375,000 carbon credits priced at $10 apiece. The deal also includes a 5 percent increase on the base price for each carbon credit.

Green Ventures will begin making payments for those carbon credits over a 12 month period beginning in April 2010.

The carbon credits were generated by 150,000 Kiri trees planted in Vanuatu and the eastern states of Australia. An additional 150,000 trees are scheduled to be planted in Vanuatu by the end of the first quarter.

ECO2 Forests plans to plant a minimum of three million trees within seven years of the 10 year contract with Green Ventures.

Kiri trees are fast growing trees that can absorb and store large amounts of carbon dioxide, a notorious gas causing climate change. It could be harvested in just seven years and could generate up to 2.5 carbon credits every harvest per tree between each harvest cycle.

Including carbon credits in sustainable forestry gives companies a chance to earn revenue at the beginning of the forest’s life cycle rather than waiting for the harvest season that could take decades after initial planting.