Piccaninny Plains Carbon Abatement

Piccaninny Plains Carbon Abatement is a Savanna Burning project located at the Piccaninny Plains Wildlife Sanctuary in the heart of the Cape York Peninsula, approximately 130km east of Weipa in Far North Queensland. Registered in February 2014, the project operates across a vast area of nearly 167,200 hectares. The sanctuary is jointly owned by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) and the Tony & Lisette Lewis Foundation, managed primarily for conservation purposes to protect the region's unique biodiversity.

The project operates under the Savanna Burning methodology, which involves conducting strategic, planned burns during the early dry season (typically May to July). These fires are generally cooler and patchier than the intense, uncontrolled wildfires that occur in the late dry season. By reducing the available fuel load early in the year, the project prevents the spread of large-scale, high-intensity fires later in the season. This shift in fire regime significantly reduces the emissions of methane and nitrous oxide, potent greenhouse gases released during burning.

Regionally, the land use is predominantly conservation and indigenous land management, surrounded by other nature reserves and pastoral leases. The environment is characterized by a tropical monsoonal climate with a high average annual rainfall of around 1,600mm, most of which falls during the wet season. The landscape is diverse, featuring tropical savannas, gallery rainforests, and extensive grasslands situated on cracking clay soils. A unique feature of the project area is its "evolutionary blend" of Australian and New Guinea species, providing critical habitat for animals such as the Palm Cockatoo and the Spotted Cuscus.