Esmeralda Savanna Fire Management

Esmeralda Savanna Fire Management is a savanna fire management project located on Esmeralda Station, approximately 80km southeast of Croydon in the Gulf Country of North Queensland. Registered in October 2024, the project covers a massive area of approximately 399,062 hectares.

The project operates on a working cattle station owned by the Cunningham Cattle Company (a subsidiary of Gunn Agri Partners). The region is a major hub for beef production, and Esmeralda Station specifically functions as a large-scale breeding property, or "calf factory," running high-grade Brahman cattle. The landscape consists of tropical savannas characterized by open woodlands and grasslands. The project falls within the "low rainfall zone" (receiving between 600mm and 1,000mm of annual rainfall), and the soil composition in this region typically includes sandy loams (Kandosols) and shallow rocky soils, with some clay deposits in lower-lying areas.

This project utilizes the Savanna Fire Management-Emissions Avoidance 2018 methodology. The core activity involves conducting strategic, low-intensity burns during the early dry season (cool burns) to reduce the fuel load of dry grass and vegetation. By burning early when vegetation still holds moisture, the project aims to prevent the spread of uncontrollable, high-intensity wildfires that typically occur in the late dry season. This shift in fire regime avoids the release of significant amounts of methane and nitrous oxide, potent greenhouse gases, that would otherwise be emitted by hot, late-season fires.

An interesting aspect of this project is its integration into a corporate institutional investment portfolio. Esmeralda Station was acquired by Gunn Agri Partners in 2016 for approximately $40 million. The implementation of carbon farming alongside commercial grazing demonstrates a dual-land use strategy where active fire management improves pasture quality for cattle while simultaneously generating carbon credits.