The management of climate change through prescribed Savanna burning: Emerging contributions of indigenous people in Northern Australia

Abstract

SUMMARYAustralia has committed to substantial cuts in greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) achieved through a national emissions trading system, raising important issues for relatively undeveloped regions of Northern Australia and, in particular, Indigenous lands. Can mostly Indigenous and socio-economically disadvantaged people living in such regions develop institutions to contribute significantly to the mitigation of GHGE, yet pursue regional development? Will national policies adequately recognise the special needs and potential contributions of such communities? These questions and the challenges inherent in them are addressed in this article with reference to a significant initiative involving the community management of landscape fire to reduce annual GHGE from savanna burning. This initiative appears to offer potential for engagement with global carbon markets, but it will need local, national and international support, along with appropriate changes in attitudes and legal arrangements, to ensure an equitable distribution of tangible rewards, while protecting the cultural and related benefits of customary fire use.

Monitoring outcomes of environmental service provision in low socio-economic indigenous Australia using innovative CyberTracker Technology

“…WALFA is an upfront PES project which pre-empted the establishment of a formal national carbon trading scheme in Australia. Further details of the project and the arrangements are presented elsewhere (see Whitehead et al 2008;RussellSmith et al 2009a). Contemporary fi re management in Arnhem Land broadly replicates customary burning practices of local Indigenous people (Yibarbuk et al 2001;Russell-Smith et al 2003).…”

“…The monitoring and reporting conditions attached to PES projects are one of the primary obstacles to attracting and securing adequate remuneration for environmental service provision (Wunder 2007), particularly in developing regions where the technical, administrative and organisational capacity of the population is often low (Ferraro 2001). Paradoxically, it is in developing regions that most socio-economic benefi t can be gained from PES projects (Pagiola et al 2005), especially where local communities have a history of providing environmental services, such as customary fi re management by Indigenous communities in northern Australia (Yibarbuk et al 2001;Whitehead et al 2008;Garde et al 2009;), without adequate remuneration (Muller 2008). Here, I present fi ve case studies which demonstrate how Indigenous Land and Sea Management (ILSM) groups (locally known as rangers) in remote, economically poor, Arnhem Land in northern Australia (Figure 1), have used innovative monitoring techniques to measure the environmental outcomes of their land management activities which include fi re, feral animal and weed management, and biodiversity and ecosystem protection.…”

The influence of prescribed fire on the extent of wildfire in savanna landscapes of western Arnhem Land, Australia

“…However, the funding for the project relies on an economic objective, which is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 100,000 tonnes p.a. (Whitehead, Purdon et al 2008). While fire mapping has shown the overall area burnt per year has been reduced compared to a pre-management baseline (1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004), there is no empirical evidence about how much effort is required to achieve a certain outcome.…”

Potential role of ignition management in reducing unplanned burning in Arnhem Land, Australia

“…The WALFA project has been operating since 2005 with Federal Government and industry funding (Whitehead et al 2008). The project manages fire by implementing a strategic pattern of Early Dry Season fires that impede the potential for Late Dry Season fires to start and spread.…”

“…The aims of WALFA include reducing the total area burnt and particularly by Late Dry Season fires. The programme delivers a range of benefits, including biodiversity, social and economic as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions (Whitehead et al 2008;Russell-Smith et al 2013). The main mechanism is to implement an annual programme of Early Dry Season burning to disrupt and inhibit Late Dry Season fires.…”