Olkola Ajin - Olkola Fire Project

Olkola Ajin - Olkola Fire Project is a Savanna Fire Management project located in the Central Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, situated approximately between the historic town of Laura and the town of Coen. Registered on December 22, 2014, it covers an expansive 869,909.54 hectares on the traditional lands of the Olkola people. The region's land use is characterised by traditional Aboriginal cultural practices, conservation efforts (including the jointly managed Olkola and Alwal National Parks), and pastoral cattle grazing.

The project operates under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative, Emissions Abatement through Savanna Fire Management) Methodology Determination 2015. Savanna fire management projects involve the strategic application of planned "cool" burns during the early dry season (between May and July). This traditional patchwork burning reduces ground fuel loads, which in turn prevents larger, hotter, and highly destructive wildfires from sweeping through the landscape later in the dry season.

The Central Cape York environment experiences a tropical monsoonal climate, characterised by a high rainfall zone during the summer wet season and very dry conditions from mid-year onwards. The region's vegetation is dominated by expansive grasslands and tropical savanna woodlands, including eucalypts and melaleucas. Typical soil types across this region include infertile lateritic soils (red and yellow earths, or Kandosols), well-draining sandy soils, and some loamy alluvial plains.

The Olkola Ajin project represents a powerful blend of traditional ecological knowledge and modern carbon markets. Guided by the Olkola Healthy Country Plan, the project provides local employment for Indigenous rangers and actively supports the protection of endangered species such as the Alwal (golden-shouldered parrot), whose nesting areas depend heavily on well-planned fire management. In late 2022, the Olkola Aboriginal Corporation signed a landmark three-year Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) off-take deal with global asset manager Environmental Commodity Partners (ECP), setting a new benchmark for Indigenous carbon market agreements. The project has seen several variations since its inception, including an update to the project area in 2020 and a change in participants, with Corporate Carbon Solutions Pty Ltd acting as a joint participant from 2015 until full participation transferred exclusively to the Olkola Aboriginal Corporation in 2022.