Murra Yambangku Carbon Project (Hands on Country)

The Murra Yambangku Carbon Project (Hands on Country) is a human-induced regeneration project located on the property formerly known as Gracevale Station, now renamed Turraburra. The project area is situated approximately 120 kilometers north of Barcaldine (and roughly 60km northeast of Aramac) in the Desert Uplands bioregion of Central West Queensland. Registered in November 2020, the project covers 3,278 hectares of the larger 8,870-hectare station. The surrounding region is traditionally pastoral, primarily used for cattle grazing, but Turraburra is being transitioned by its traditional custodians toward conservation, cultural tourism, and carbon farming.

The project operates under the Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR) methodology. This method credits carbon abatement achieved by regenerating native forests on land where vegetation has been suppressed for at least 10 years, typically by livestock grazing or mechanical clearing. By managing the timing and extent of grazing and ceasing mechanical destruction, the project allows native vegetation to regrow and reach forest cover status, sequestering carbon in the process.

Environmentally, the site is characterized by a semi-arid climate typical of the Desert Uplands. Unlike the cracking clay soils found in the nearby Mitchell Grass Downs, Turraburra features deep, infertile sandplains and rugged sandstone ranges. These sandy soils (often Kandosols or Tenosols) support distinct vegetation communities which the project aims to restore. The area is also an important recharge zone for the Great Artesian Basin.

A significant aspect of this project is its cultural and social context. The property was purchased in 2019 by the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation (ILSC) on behalf of the Iningai people (represented by YACHATDAC), returning them to their country after 140 years of dispossession. The station contains a culturally significant 200-meter rock art gallery ("The Story Wall") and was the site of a historical massacre. The carbon project serves as a foundation for an economic model that supports the protection of these cultural sites, the development of a native foods industry, and the "Hands on Country" program which reconnects Iningai people with their traditional lands.