Olkola Ajin - Olkola Fire Project

Olkola Ajin - Olkola Fire Project is a Savanna Fire Management project located in the central Cape York Peninsula of Queensland, approximately 150km west of the town of Laura. It was registered in December 2014 and covers an extensive 869,909.54 hectares of traditional Olkola lands.

Savanna fire management projects operating under the 2015 methodology determination require strategic, planned "cool" burning during the early dry season. These controlled mosaic burns reduce ground fuel loads, thereby lowering the risk, frequency, and intensity of destructive late dry season wildfires. By avoiding these intense late-season wildfires, the project significantly reduces the release of highly emissive greenhouse gases such as methane and nitrous oxide.

The central Cape York region experiences a tropical savanna climate with a pronounced monsoon wet season, placing the project entirely within the high rainfall zone. The local landscape features an array of soils, including sand, silt, and alluvial clays along the rivers and floodplains. While much of this region was historically operated as pastoral cattle stations following European settlement, it has progressively been returned to Traditional Owners. Today, the region is largely dedicated to Indigenous land management, conservation, such as within the Olkola National Park, and carbon farming.

This Indigenous-led project successfully intertwines thousands of years of traditional knowledge with modern carbon abatement strategies. Generating approximately 50,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions abatement annually, the project’s revenue is reinvested back into the community. It directly funds Olkola rangers and secures the protection of culturally significant sites and endangered local species, such as the Golden-shouldered Parrot (known as the Alwal). The project has notably secured offtake agreements with global asset manager Environmental Commodity Partners and provides verified offsets for Medibank's corporate emissions. While originally contracted with Corporate Carbon Solutions in 2015, the project was varied in November 2022 to list the Olkola Aboriginal Corporation as the sole participant.