Artemis Station

Artemis Station is a Savanna Fire Management project located on the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, approximately 200km northwest of Cooktown. It was registered in August 2014 and covers a massive 124,668.71 hectares.

Savanna fire management projects involve the strategic and planned burning of savanna areas in high rainfall zones during the early dry season. This standard methodology requirement is designed to minimize the fuel load, reducing the risk, intensity, and frequency of late dry season wildfires, which subsequently lowers greenhouse gas emissions.

The central Cape York region is heavily utilized for extensive cattle grazing operations and ecological conservation. The area is classified as a high rainfall tropical savanna, experiencing intense wet seasons followed by prolonged dry seasons. Soils across these grassy ecosystems are generally sandy and lateritic, often shifting to heavy clays in low-lying wetlands and drainage depressions.

Interestingly, Artemis Station has been managed by the Shephard family for over a century and is internationally recognized for its critical conservation work with the endangered Golden-shouldered Parrot. The project's proponent, Susan Shephard, has even co-authored academic research demonstrating that woody plant encroachment threatens the parrot's grassy nesting sites. This means the project's prescribed early dry season burning is not only vital for carbon abatement but also plays a critical role in restoring local parrot habitats. Additionally, the project initially commenced under the 2013 Early Dry Season Savanna Burning determination before transitioning to the updated 2015 methodology in January 2017, and the proponent was officially updated from Country Carbon Pty Ltd to Susan Shephard in June 2023.