Southwell Station

Southwell Station is a Savanna Fire Management project located on the Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, approximately 100km northeast of the remote coastal town of Pormpuraaw. It was registered in July 2014 and covers an expansive 145,914.67 hectares.

Savanna Fire Management projects involve the strategic, planned burning of savanna areas during the early dry season. This methodology is required to proactively reduce the available ground fuel load, which lowers the risk of massive, destructive wildfires occurring during the late dry season, thereby significantly reducing overall greenhouse gas emissions.

The surrounding Cape York area is a remote outback region primarily known for pastoral cattle grazing and large cattle stations. The region operates within a tropical high rainfall classification, characterized by intense monsoonal wet seasons between November and April. The local environment features dry grasslands and open savanna woodlands, with soils that generally consist of sandy loams and lateritic clays.

Developed in partnership with project developer GreenCollar, the project not only reduces emissions but also actively protects 32 hectares of threatened regional ecosystems on the property, providing a vital refuge for several state and federally listed threatened native fauna and flora species. Interestingly, Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) generated from Southwell Station have been notably purchased and retired by Coles Supermarkets to offset emissions for their certified Carbon Neutral Beef product line. From a compliance perspective, the Clean Energy Regulator accepted an Enforceable Undertaking from the previous proponent, Country Carbon Pty Ltd, in May 2020, prior to the project successfully transferring to Terra Carbon Pty Limited in September 2022.