Wulburjubur Cultural Fire Project

Wulburjubur Cultural Fire Project is a Savanna Fire Management project located on Palmerville Station, approximately 30km south of the township of Laura in Queensland's Cape York Peninsula. It was registered in September 2021 and covers a substantial area of 57,501 hectares. The surrounding remote region is historically known for cattle grazing and mining, though this project highlights a localized shift toward conservation. The region falls within the high rainfall zone of the northern savannas, experiencing distinct tropical wet and dry seasons. Soils in this part of the Palmer River catchment typically consist of alluvial soils near watercourses and rugged, skeletal soils along the ridges.

Savanna Fire Management projects under the Sequestration and Emissions Avoidance methodology involve conducting strategic, low-intensity cultural burns in the early dry season. These controlled cool burns reduce fuel loads, mitigating the risk of larger, uncontrolled, and destructive wildfires later in the dry season. The 2018 methodology requires verifiable spatial evidence of burning and credits both the avoidance of methane and nitrous oxide emissions and the carbon sequestered in dead organic matter, such as coarse woody debris, that is saved from consumption by late-season fires.

The project is led by the Western Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC with support from the Aboriginal Carbon Foundation, operating as an Indigenous-led "cultural fire" initiative. The project area on the Wulburjubur Bama Land Trust is actively managed to be kept free from livestock and the invasive gamba grass. Revenue generated from Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) directly funds the Western Yalanji Rangers, providing them with essential equipment, uniforms, and operational support to care for country.

By shifting the fire regime, the project does more than just lower greenhouse gases; it helps protect critical habitats for local flora and fauna, including threatened species like the Large-eared Horseshoe bat and the Squatter Pigeon. The project's ACCUs have also received strong corporate backing from entities such as NIB Holdings and Chocolate On Purpose (Australia's first Indigenous-owned chocolate company), which offset their emissions while supporting traditional land management and climate action.