The Carbon Abatement Initiative is a project funded by various
government and non-government sources.
The project builds on the success of the landmark West Arnhem
Fire Management Agreement (WAFMA) Project.
WAFMA Project
Savanna fires in northern Australia make a significant
contribution to Australia’s annual greenhouse gas emissions.
Research in west Arnhem Land has shown that strategic fire
management in savanna landscapes can lead to a reduction in
greenhouse gas emissions.
This research led to a landmark greenhouse gas offset agreement
between ConocoPhillips, the NT Government, Northern Land Council,
and traditional owners and Indigenous land managers in west Arnhem
Land, which provides for the recognition of greenhouse gas
abatement achieved through savanna fire management carried out by
Indigenous Ranger groups as an offset to some of the greenhouse gas
emissions generated at ConocoPhillips’ liquefied natural gas
plant in Darwin Harbour. Under the arrangement, Indigenous fire
managers are paid around $1million a year for 17 years to provide
this fire management service.
The WAFMA Project uses traditional fire management practices
together with modern scientific knowledge to better control the
extent and severity of savanna wildfires thereby reducing
greenhouse gas emissions. Essentially, the project seeks to
increase the proportion of controlled early dry season fires to
create fire breaks and patchy mosaics of burnt and unburnt country
to minimise destructive late dry season wildfires.
As well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions by around 100,000
tonnes per year, the project is contributing to positive
biodiversity conservation outcomes and providing sustainable
employment for Indigenous land managers while maintaining cultural
links with traditional lands and land management practices.
Carbon Abatement Project
Over the next three years, NAILSMA will be working through our
partners to establish up to four new landscape-scale emissions
abatement projects in northern Australia. The aim of this
initiative is to examine prospective opportunities in the emerging
carbon and related markets, including carbon offset arrangements
under the proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) as well
as opportunities on the unregulated market.
NAILSMA will facilitate Research & Development through its
members to ensure that appropriate models support Traditional
Owners aspirations.
The four new savanna fire management projects are located in the
north Kimberley region of Western Australia, central Arnhem Land in
the NT, western Cape York and the Gulf of Carpentaria in
Queensland.
