diff --git a/pygbif/occurrences/__init__.py b/pygbif/occurrences/__init__.py
index d2366e2..c496208 100644
--- a/pygbif/occurrences/__init__.py
+++ b/pygbif/occurrences/__init__.py
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
     download_list,
     download_get,
     download_cancel,
-    download_describe
+    download_describe,
+    download_sql
 )
 from .citation import citation
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pygbif/occurrences/download.py b/pygbif/occurrences/download.py
index 1ebfd1b..d284dff 100644
--- a/pygbif/occurrences/download.py
+++ b/pygbif/occurrences/download.py
@@ -653,6 +653,75 @@ def download_describe(format, **kwargs):
     else:
         raise ValueError("format not in list of acceptable formats")
 
+def download_sql(sql, 
+                 format="SQL_TSV_ZIP", 
+                 user=None, 
+                 pwd=None, 
+                 email=None
+                 ):
+    """
+    Download data using a SQL query. 
+
+    This is an experimental feature, and the implementation may change throughout 2024. 
+    The feature is currently only available for preview by invited users. Contact helpdesk@gbif.org 
+    to request access.
+
+    :param sql: [str] A SQL query
+    :param format: [str] The format to download the data in. Only ``SQL_TSV_ZIP`` is currently supported.
+    :param user: [str] A user name, will look at env var ``GBIF_USER`` first.
+    :param pwd: [str] Your password, will look at env var ``GBIF_PWD`` first.
+    :param email: [str] Your email, will look at env var ``GBIF_EMAIL`` first.
+
+    :return: A string, the request id
+
+    Usage::
+    
+            from pygbif import occurrences as occ
+    
+            occ.download_sql("SELECT gbifid,publishingCountry FROM occurrence WHERE publishingCountry=GB'")
+
+    """
+    url = "https://api.gbif.org/v1/occurrence/download/request"
+    user = _check_environ("GBIF_USER", user)
+    pwd = _check_environ("GBIF_PWD", pwd)
+
+    header = {
+        "accept": "application/json",
+        "content-type": "application/json",
+        "user-agent": "".join(
+            [
+                "python-requests/",
+                requests.__version__,
+                ",pygbif/",
+                package_metadata.__version__,
+            ]
+        ),
+    }
+    payload = {
+        "sendNotification": True,
+        "notificationAddresses": [email],
+        "format": format,
+        "sql": sql
+    }
+
+    r = requests.post(
+        url,
+        auth=requests.auth.HTTPBasicAuth(user, pwd),
+        data=json.dumps(payload),
+        headers=header,
+    )
+    if r.status_code > 203:
+        raise Exception(
+            "error: "
+            + r.text
+            + ", with error status code "
+            + str(r.status_code)
+            + "check your number of active downloads."
+        )
+    else:
+        request_id = r.text
+        logging.info("Your sql download key is " + request_id)
+    return request_id
 
 operators = [
     "equals",
diff --git a/test/test-occurrences-download_sql.py b/test/test-occurrences-download_sql.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5dd5382
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test-occurrences-download_sql.py
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+from pygbif import occurrences
+import vcr
+
+@vcr.use_cassette('test/vcr_cassettes/test-occurrences-download_sql.yaml')
+def test_download_sql():
+    """basic test of the download_sql function"""
+    out = occurrences.download_sql("SELECT gbifid,publishingCountry FROM occurrence WHERE publishingCountry='BE'")
+    assert "str" == out.__class__.__name__
+    assert 23 == len(out)
+
+
diff --git a/test/vcr_cassettes/test-occurrences-download_sql.yaml b/test/vcr_cassettes/test-occurrences-download_sql.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c293852
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/vcr_cassettes/test-occurrences-download_sql.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+interactions:
+- request:
+    body: '{"sendNotification": true, "notificationAddresses": [null], "format": "SQL_TSV_ZIP",
+      "sql": "SELECT gbifid,publishingCountry FROM occurrence WHERE publishingCountry=''BE''"}'
+    headers:
+      Accept-Encoding:
+      - gzip, deflate
+      Authorization:
+      - Basic andhbGxlcjojOVNrZG5Ba3NpRGtuZWtzUW9zblZpZDg4QQ==
+      Connection:
+      - keep-alive
+      Content-Length:
+      - '171'
+      accept:
+      - application/json
+      content-type:
+      - application/json
+      user-agent:
+      - python-requests/2.32.3,pygbif/0.6.4
+    method: POST
+    uri: https://api.gbif.org/v1/occurrence/download/request
+  response:
+    body:
+      string: 0039132-240906103802322
+    headers:
+      Age:
+      - '0'
+      Cache-Control:
+      - public, max-age=3601
+      Connection:
+      - keep-alive
+      Content-Length:
+      - '23'
+      Content-Type:
+      - application/json
+      Date:
+      - Thu, 03 Oct 2024 11:44:25 GMT
+      Expires:
+      - '0'
+      Pragma:
+      - no-cache
+      Vary:
+      - Origin, Access-Control-Request-Method, Access-Control-Request-Headers
+      Via:
+      - 1.1 varnish (Varnish/6.0)
+      X-Content-Type-Options:
+      - nosniff
+      X-Frame-Options:
+      - DENY
+      X-Varnish:
+      - '475432033'
+      X-XSS-Protection:
+      - 1; mode=block
+    status:
+      code: 201
+      message: Created
+version: 1