Help us protect Australia's precious habitats
DonateThe smart use of fire for huge reductions in greenhouse gas emissions
Sounds weird, doesn’t it? Burning off to reduce emissions. But that’s exactly what’s going on across many parts of Australia.
For tens of thousands of years, Australian flora and fauna evolved in the presence of fire, indeed they depend on it for regrowth and regeneration. Much of this fire was lit by Indigenous Australians who – for at least 50,000 years – lit small fires as they moved around the landscape. This helped them hunt for food, clear pathways and regenerate the bush.
With European settlement came a change to the traditional Indigenous way of life, and burning was interrupted. These fire regimes in concert with waves of invasive species resulted in the dramatic decline of small mammal species as well as some bird, reptile, amphibian and plant species.
Without regular people-lit fires in the cooler months, dry grass builds up and provides fuel for much bigger bushfires caused by lightning at other times of the year. These hotter, larger fires have a devastating effect on vegetation and animals in their path, and they release huge volumes of greenhouse gases into our atmosphere. This is a very bad outcome for climate change.
Indigenous partnerships
We recognise that Indigenous people own or have rights over 70% of the land in northern Australia. The Nature Conservancy is helping establish a resilient and inclusive conservation economy that supports long-term sustainable land management and the wellbeing of people that depend on their land.
Working with Indigenous partners, we combine traditional ecological knowledge with the latest in fire science to help deliver fire programs across vast areas of Australia. Indigenous rangers in northern and central Australia set strategically placed smaller fires at the right time of year, which burn cool and low. This recreates the mosaic pattern of burning that occurred prior to European settlement, which supports a wider diversity of wildlife and quells raging hot season wildfires.
We work across the vast tropical savanna landscapes of northern Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland, covering more than 130 million hectares. This area of high biodiversity has more than half of Australia’s bird species and around one third of its mammal species.
Managed correctly, fire can have huge benefits for people and nature, including tackling climate change.
Creating conservation dollars from carbon
Through this improved burning, Indigenous groups can demonstrate that they reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions. This generates what’s called a ‘carbon credit’ where one less tonne of carbon dioxide emitted equals one carbon credit.
If another organisation wants to reduce its own greenhouse gas emissions but can’t, it can instead purchase these carbon credits off someone else. The Australian Government also acquires these credits through the Emissions Reduction Fund to help meet Australia’s 2020 emissions reduction targets. The sale of carbon credits by Indigenous groups thereby generates income, which is applied to conservation land management. It’s a win for everyone.
This work has prevented hundreds of thousands of tons of greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere by changing fire management across many millions of hectares—the equivalent of taking hundreds of thousands of cars off the road—while generating millions of dollars in revenue for ongoing conservation work at locations like Fish River Station.
Carbon reduction achievements
Since the start of this program, we've helped abate 6 million tonnes of carbon. That's the equivalent of taking about 2.5 million cars off the road through Indigenous Ranger programs to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions.
The Nature Conservancy's fire program history
The northern Australian program was largely focused on scale-up of successful initiatives. Fom 2003, our aim was to build conservation partners’ capacity and resources to achieve common conservation objectives. We co-funded the Australian Wildlife Conservancy and Bush Heritage Australia to purchase and manage eight properties across northern Australia, including properties such as Wongalara Station and Yourka Reserve.
Then in 2007 we shifted our focus to provide more support to Indigenous groups, triggered by a workshop with Indigenous leaders from across northern Australia. We supported several groups to establish and manage Indigenous Protected Areas (IPAs), in combination with Australian Government funding. These initial programs of property acquisition and declaration of IPAs helped achieve better representation of protected areas and local conservation outcomes.
Places we help protect
Supporting Indigenous people to manage their land for conservation.
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Fitzroy River, Western Australia
Tucked in the Kimberley region of far north Western Australia. Fitzroy River runs through the rugged and beautiful traditional Country of the Nyikina and Mangala people. Learn more
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Fish River Station, Northern Territory
A vast 180,000 hectare property with exceptionally diverse habitats including savanna woodlands, rain forests and floodplains. Learn more
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Western Desert, Western Australia
A past project in Martu Country. It's a place of global conservation significance, rich in biodiversity and cultural value, spanning an area twice the size of Tasmania. Learn more
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Arabana Country, South Australia
A past project to help protect the springs in Arabana Country. An oasis for local wildlife and migratory birds. They’re also extremely important to Indigenous people for many thousands of years. Learn more
We would like to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the Land we help to conserve and pay respect to the Elders both past and present.
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Find out how we're helping to conserve Australia's iconic natural landscapes and crucial wildlife habitats.
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A brief history of the impacts of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians on nature.
Our past work with the Martu helped indigenous owners of the Western Desert care for their country.
Working with Traditional Owners to save the Greater Bilby.