North Kimberley Pastoral Lease Carbon Abatement

North Kimberley Pastoral Lease Carbon Abatement is a savanna burning project located in the far north Kimberley region of Western Australia, approximately 100km south of Kalumburu and 200km west of Wyndham. It was registered in February 2014 and covers an expansive 844,114.82 hectares across the Wyndham-East Kimberley local government area. The general land use in this remote region consists of extensive pastoral leases (cattle grazing), Indigenous protected areas, and biodiversity conservation.

Savanna burning projects involve the strategic and planned ignition of fires during the early dry season. By conducting these managed burns while the weather is cooler and vegetation retains some moisture (typically between April and June), the methodology works to reduce natural fuel loads. This prevents the outbreak and limits the severity of massive, uncontrolled wildfires during the late dry season, significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The environment of the far north Kimberley features a tropical monsoonal climate, characterized by high rainfall during the summer wet season and distinctively arid winters. The varied and rugged landscape is home to savanna woodlands, native grasslands, isolated rainforest patches, and rocky escarpments. The region's soils are highly variable, typically consisting of shallow, stony sands and laterite on the sandstone ridges, transitioning into deeper earthy red soils and cracking clays in the valleys and floodplains.

Originally registered with the Australian Wildlife Conservancy under the name "Ecofire-North Carbon Abatement," the project underwent variations in 2014 and 2015 and is now managed by Dunkeld Pastoral Co. Pty. Ltd. as the Trustee for the Yasme Trust. Dunkeld Pastoral holds the leases for Doongan and Theda Stations, which are the primary operational bases for this project. Because the extreme isolation, rugged terrain, and monsoonal flooding make traditional cattle mustering and road transport highly difficult and costly, Dunkeld shifted its primary focus from livestock to sustainable land management and carbon farming. Today, alongside generating carbon abatement, these ecologically rich properties serve as a hub for major university research programs, including extensive studies on dating ancient Aboriginal rock art and pioneering large-scale Cane toad mitigation strategies.