York Downs Station

York Downs Station is a Savanna Fire Management project located on the Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, approximately 50km east of Weipa. It was registered in July 2015 and spans 129,384ha.

Savanna fire management projects involve the strategic, controlled burning of savanna areas during the early dry season. These planned mosaic burns are required to reduce the overall fuel load, lowering the risk, size, and intensity of destructive late dry-season wildfires. By doing so, the project avoids significant greenhouse gas emissions that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere.

The Cape York region is known for its extensive cattle grazing operations, which is the primary land use at York Downs where they focus on breeding Brahman cattle. The area is classified as a high rainfall savanna environment with distinct tropical wet and dry seasons. The soils in this region typically consist of sandy loams, clays, and bauxite-rich red earth.

This carbon project was set up to improve fire risk management while generating additional income for the property. The Witherspoon family, who manage the station, have used these funds to upgrade heavy machinery for cutting fire breaks and plan to install a solar system to decommission their diesel generators. Improved fire practices have also helped protect local pasture and led to observable increases in native fauna populations, including kangaroos, wallabies, and echidnas. Additionally, the project's proponent details were formally varied from Country Carbon Pty Ltd to Terra Carbon Pty Limited in September 2023.