Maitland Downs

Maitland Downs is a savanna fire management project located in the Cape York Peninsula region of Far North Queensland, approximately 130 km northwest of the major town of Mareeba and southwest of Lakeland. It was registered in January 2018 and originally covered 69,774.73 hectares, though a variation in November 2019 removed some areas from the project boundaries.

Savanna fire management projects involve the strategic, planned burning of savanna areas during the early dry season. This methodology requirement creates a mosaic of burnt and unburnt country, significantly reducing the fuel load and mitigating the risk of massive, uncontrolled wildfires during the late dry season, thereby lowering overall greenhouse gas emissions.

The Maitland Downs station and its surrounding region are predominantly used for large-scale beef cattle grazing, as well as eco-tourism and historical gold and tungsten prospecting. Situated in tropical Far North Queensland, the environment spans both high and low rainfall savanna zones. The landscape largely consists of undulating plains with soils derived from a complex mix of basalt, granite, and metamorphic rocks.

The project proponent was updated from Country Carbon Pty. Ltd. to Terra Carbon Pty Limited following a participant name variation in May 2022. A significant and unfortunate event impacted the project in October 2023, when a planned burn initiated by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service in the neighbouring Mount Windsor National Park escaped control. The resulting wildfire swept through Maitland Downs, destroying tens of thousands of hectares of pasture, fencing, and livestock. The property owners reported the fire wiped out an estimated six to eight years worth of accumulated carbon credits, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages.