Wrotham Park Fire Management Project

Wrotham Park Fire Management Project is a savanna fire management project located at Wrotham Park Station, approximately 80km west of the town of Chillagoe and 350km west of Cairns in Far North Queensland. It was registered in February 2018 and covers a project area of 256,590.42 hectares. In March 2019, a variation to the project area was processed, resulting in the removal of some previously listed areas.

Savanna fire management projects involve conducting strategic and planned burning of savanna landscapes during the early dry season. This methodology is designed to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions by decreasing the risk, extent, and intensity of late dry season wildfires, which burn much hotter and release significantly more carbon into the atmosphere.

The Wrotham Park region is dominated by large-scale pastoral land use, specifically commercial cattle breeding and grazing. The environment encompasses both high and low rainfall savanna zones. It is characterised by a heavy tropical summer wet season, averaging 825 to 1200mm of rainfall, followed by an extended and distinct dry season. Geographically, the station features rich riverine flats supported by the Mitchell and Walsh river systems, with soils across the plains predominantly described as yellow earths and yellow podsolic soils.

The project is operated on a massive 596,880-hectare historic cattle station owned by the Consolidated Pastoral Company (CPC), which currently runs upwards of 40,000 head of cattle. Interestingly, beyond its agricultural and carbon farming operations, the vast property was once home to the exclusive Wrotham Park Lodge, a five-star retreat that allowed guests to experience remote outback life and observe helicopter cattle mustering.