Ban Ban Springs Station Savanna Fire Management Project

The Ban Ban Springs Station Savanna Fire Management Project is a savanna burning project located at Ban Ban Springs Station, approximately 46km southeast of the town of Adelaide River and 125km southeast of Darwin in the Northern Territory. Registered on December 20, 2023, the project covers a designated area of 28,648.27 hectares within the larger pastoral lease. The region is primarily utilized for cattle grazing, which operates alongside the carbon project activities.

This project operates under the Savanna Fire Management - Sequestration and Emissions Avoidance 2018 methodology. This method generates Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) through two mechanisms: avoiding greenhouse gas emissions (methane and nitrous oxide) by shifting burning from the late dry season to the cooler early dry season, and sequestering carbon in dead organic matter (such as logs and coarse woody debris) that would otherwise be consumed by hot, high-intensity wildfires. The proponent, Umlilo Holdings Pty Ltd (trustee for CC Stage 3 Agricultural Trust), manages the fire regime to create fire breaks and reduce fuel loads early in the year.

The project is situated in the high rainfall zone of the Top End, with the station receiving a mean annual rainfall of approximately 1,340mm. The local environment features open savanna woodlands with an understory of sorghum and kangaroo grass. The terrain includes undulating hills and floodplains with soils characterized as gravelly acidic alluvial soils, Yellow Kandosols (yellow earths), and Red Dermosols.

An interesting aspect of this project is its ownership structure. The project proponent, Umlilo Holdings, is a vehicle established by the project developer, Corporate Carbon, to acquire the station. This represents a vertically integrated model where the carbon developer owns the land and integrates the carbon project directly with ongoing cattle operations, rather than just acting as a service provider to an external pastoralist.