Transforming fire management in northern Australia through successful implementation of savanna burning emissions reductions projects

Although biomass burning of savannas is recognised as a major global source of greenhouse gas emissions, quantification remains problematic with resulting regional emissions estimates often differing markedly. Here we undertake a critical assessment of Australia’s National Greenhouse Gas Inventory (NGGI) savanna burning emissions methodology. We describe the methodology developed for, and results and associated uncertainties derived from, a landscape-scale emissions abatement project in fire-prone western Arnhem Land, northern Australia. The methodology incorporates (i) detailed fire history and vegetation structure and fuels type mapping derived from satellite imagery; (ii) field-based assessments of fuel load accumulation, burning efficiencies (patchiness, combustion efficiency, ash retention) and N : C composition; and (iii) application of standard, regionally derived emission factors. Importantly, this refined methodology differs from the NGGI by incorporation of fire seasonality and severity components, and substantial improvements in baseline data. We consider how the application of a fire management program aimed at shifting the seasonality of burning (from one currently dominated by extensive late dry season wildfires to one where strategic fire management is undertaken earlier in the year) can provide significant project-based emissions abatement. The approach has wider application to fire-prone savanna systems dominated by anthropogenic sources of ignition.

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Indigenous Knowledge and Seasonal Calendar Inform Adaptive Savanna Burning in Northern Australia

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12030995 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (3) ◽

pp. 995 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Michelle McKemey ◽

Emilie Ens ◽

Yugul Mangi Rangers ◽

Oliver Costello ◽

Nick Reid

Keyword(s):

Indigenous Knowledge ◽

Fire Management ◽

Economic Benefits ◽

Wild Food ◽

Ecological Knowledge ◽

Northern Australia ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Management Planning ◽

Savanna Burning ◽

Greenhouse Gas Abatement

Indigenous fire management is experiencing a resurgence worldwide. Northern Australia is the world leader in Indigenous savanna burning, delivering social, cultural, environmental and economic benefits. In 2016, a greenhouse gas abatement fire program commenced in the savannas of south-eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, managed by the Indigenous Yugul Mangi rangers. We undertook participatory action research and semi-structured interviews with rangers and Elders during 2016 and 2019 to investigate Indigenous knowledge and obtain local feedback about fire management. Results indicated that Indigenous rangers effectively use cross-cultural science (including local and Traditional Ecological Knowledge alongside western science) to manage fire. Fire management is a key driver in the production of bush tucker (wild food) resources and impacts other cultural and ecological values. A need for increased education and awareness about Indigenous burning was consistently emphasized. To address this, the project participants developed the Yugul Mangi Faiya En Sisen Kelenda (Yugul Mangi Fire and Seasons Calendar) that drew on Indigenous knowledge of seasonal biocultural indicators to guide the rangers’ fire management planning. The calendar has potential for application in fire management planning, intergenerational transfer of Indigenous knowledge and locally driven adaptive fire management.

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Contemporary Aboriginal savanna burning projects in Arnhem Land: a regional description and analysis of the fire management aspirations of Traditional Owners

International Journal of Wildland Fire ◽

10.1071/wf18152 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 29 (5) ◽

pp. 371 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Jennifer Ansell ◽

Jay Evans ◽

Adjumarllarl Rangers ◽

Arafura Swamp Rangers ◽

Djelk Rangers ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Management ◽

Fire Management ◽

Aboriginal People ◽

Regional Scale ◽

Northern Australia ◽

Carbon Abatement ◽

Management Planning ◽

Arnhem Land ◽

Savanna Burning ◽

Land Management Planning

The growth of the carbon industry in Australia over the last decade has seen an increase in the number of eligible offsets projects utilising the savanna burning methods in northern Australia. Many of these projects are operated by Aboriginal people on Aboriginal lands utilising local Aboriginal knowledge and customary burning practice. The present paper reviews existing land management planning documents to describe the aspirations of Traditional Owners in relation to fire management at a regional scale in Arnhem Land. Available data collected in the course of savanna burning operations are then utilised to examine the extent to which the savanna burning projects are meeting these goals. There were six clear goals in relation to fire management within the planning documents across Arnhem Land. Traditional Owners want to: (1) continue the healthy fire management of their country; (2) see fewer wildfires; (3) protect biodiversity; (4) protect culturally important sites; (5) maintain and transfer knowledge; and (6) create a carbon abatement. The results from this paper suggest that although the savanna burning projects are annually variable, these goals are being met. Importantly, the present paper clearly communicates a description of contemporary fire management from the perspective of Traditional Owners at a broad regional scale.

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Ecological thresholds and the status of fire-sensitive vegetation in western Arnhem Land, northern Australia: implications for management

International Journal of Wildland Fire ◽

10.1071/wf08008 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 18 (2) ◽

pp. 127 ◽

Cited By ~ 32

Author(s):

Andrew C. Edwards ◽

Jeremy Russell-Smith

Keyword(s):

National Parks ◽

Fire History ◽

Fire Management ◽

Fire Regime ◽

Vegetation Types ◽

Northern Australia ◽

Study Region ◽

Ecological Thresholds ◽

Arnhem Land ◽

The Status

The paper examines the application of the ecological thresholds concept to fire management issues concerning fire-sensitive vegetation types associated with the remote, biodiversity-rich, sandstone Arnhem Plateau, in western Arnhem Land, monsoonal northern Australia. In the absence of detailed assessments of fire regime impacts on component biota such as exist for adjoining Nitmiluk and World Heritage Kakadu National Parks, the paper builds on validated 16-year fire history and vegetation structural mapping products derived principally from Landsat-scale imagery, to apply critical ecological thresholds criteria as defined by fire regime parameters for assessing the status of fire-sensitive habitat and species elements. Assembled data indicate that the 24 000 km2 study region today experiences fire regimes characterised generally by high annual frequencies (mean = 36.6%) of large (>10 km2) fires that occur mostly in the late dry season under severe fire-weather conditions. Collectively, such conditions substantially exceed defined ecological thresholds for significant proportions of fire-sensitive indicator rain forest and heath vegetation types, and the long-lived obligate seeder conifer tree species, Callitris intratropica. Thresholds criteria are recognised as an effective tool for informing ecological fire management in a variety of geographic settings.

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Emission estimates of selected volatile organic compounds from tropical savanna burning in northern Australia

Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres ◽

10.1029/2001jd000841 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 108 (D3) ◽

pp. n/a-n/a ◽

Cited By ~ 43

Author(s):

T. Shirai ◽

D. R. Blake ◽

S. Meinardi ◽

F. S. Rowland ◽

J. Russell-Smith ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Volatile Organic Compounds ◽

Organic Compounds ◽

Tropical Savanna ◽

Northern Australia ◽

Volatile Organic ◽

Savanna Burning

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Savanna burning methodology for fire management and emissions reduction: a critical review of influencing factors

Carbon Balance and Management ◽

10.1186/s13021-016-0067-4 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Tek Narayan Maraseni ◽

Kathryn Reardon-Smith ◽

Greg Griffiths ◽

Armando Apan

Keyword(s):

Influencing Factors ◽

Critical Review ◽

Fire Management ◽

Emissions Reduction ◽

Savanna Burning

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Carbon projects and Indigenous land in northern Australia

The Rangeland Journal ◽

10.1071/rj13128 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 36 (4) ◽

pp. 389 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Jeremy Dore ◽

Christine Michael ◽

Jeremy Russell-Smith ◽

Maureen Tehan ◽

Lisa Caripis

Keyword(s):

Carbon Sequestration ◽

Greenhouse Gases ◽

Land Tenure ◽

Fire Management ◽

Clean Energy ◽

Northern Territory ◽

Emissions Reduction ◽

Northern Australia ◽

Native Title ◽

Indigenous Land

Land activities contribute ~18% of total greenhouse gas emissions produced in Australia. To help reduce these emissions, the Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) was implemented in 2011 to encourage land projects, which reduce the production of greenhouse gases and/or sequester carbon in the land. Prospective projects include savanna fire management and rangelands management, which have high relevance in northern Australia where Indigenous landholding is strong. This paper explores the land-tenure requirements necessary for these kinds of carbon projects to be approved by the Clean Energy Regulator. It provides an introduction to the CFI before discussing the land tenure requirements in the states of Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia with respect to both emissions reduction and carbon sequestration projects. Potential issues with the current framework are highlighted, especially in relation to native title.

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