Merluna Station

Merluna Station is a Savanna Fire Management project located at a remote working cattle property on the Cape York Peninsula in North Queensland, roughly 120km south-east of the major mining town of Weipa. It was registered in September 2014 and covers an expansive 169,639 hectares of the much larger 417,000-acre pastoral station.

Savanna Fire Management projects involve strategic, planned burning of savanna areas during the early dry season. This controlled burning removes fuel loads, significantly mitigating the risk and intensity of wild, unmanaged fires in the late dry season, which in turn reduces overall greenhouse gas emissions.

The Cape York region is characterised by a high-rainfall, monsoonal climate suitable for extensive savanna environments. Regional land use is predominantly large-scale cattle grazing and outback tourism. The underlying soils in this region typically consist of highly weathered lateritic red earths, clays, and sandy loams.

Interestingly, Merluna Station traces its history back to the late 19th century and operates today as a popular outback farm stay and four-wheel-drive camping destination. The carbon project itself underwent a method variation in 2017 to adopt the updated 2015 savanna burning methodology determination. Furthermore, in 2022, the participant name was varied from Country Carbon Pty Ltd to the current proponent, Terra Carbon Pty Limited. Public registry records also note that the Clean Energy Regulator accepted an Enforceable Undertaking from the previous participant, Country Carbon Pty Limited, in May 2020. Carbon credits generated from this project have been retired by major corporate entities, including Coles Supermarkets, to offset their emissions footprints.