Combining traditional knowledge with contemporary technology to reduce fire risk & carbon emissions.
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Combining traditional knowledge with contemporary technology to reduce fire risk & carbon emissions.
Combining traditional knowledge with contemporary technology to reduce fire risk & carbon emissions.
Arnhem Land is a unique region that stretches over 97,000 square kilometres. The land is rich in Aboriginal culture, breathtaking scenery and rare wildlife. A substantial proportion of the population, which is mostly Aboriginal, lives on small outstations or homelands.
In the absence of fire management by Aboriginal Traditional Landowners, Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory is prone to extreme, devastating wildfires that damage the landscape and release carbon emissions. This project combines the knowledge and skills of Aboriginal Traditional Owners with contemporary technology to accomplish highly sophisticated landscape scale fire management.
This project supports the work of the not-for-profit carbon farming organisation Arnhem Land Fire Abatement (ALFA) to manage five fire projects across an area of over 80,000 km2. The use of these traditional fire burning practices has demonstrated a significant reduction in carbon emissions along with highly valued social, culture, environmental and economic benefits for Indigenous landowners.
Traditional Owners and Aboriginal rangers conduct controlled burns early in the dry season to reduce fuel on the ground and establish a mosaic of natural firebreaks, preventing bigger, hotter and uncontrolled wildfires later in the season. Using both aerial burning (incendiary pellets dropped from helicopters) and ground burning, rangers burn strategically, adding to natural breaks such as moist ground along creeks, cliff lines and tracks to create unburned ‘compartments’ surrounded by burned breaks.
In addition to reducing the risk of large scale fires, which produce significant carbon emissions and destroy vegetation and habitat for essential native species, this project also has economic and cultural benefits.
The project provides employment and training opportunities for local rangers while supporting Aboriginal people in returning to, remaining on and managing their country. Communities are supported in the preservation and transfer of knowledge, the maintenance of Aboriginal languages and the wellbeing of traditional custodians.
This project is an Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) which is verified by Australia's Clean Energy Regulator.
Established in 2014, Tasman Environmental (TEM) empowers business and consumers to achieve carbon neutrality and make extraordinary impact by connecting with life-changing carbon offset projects.
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