Fire management business in Australia’s tropical savannas

Professor Jeremy Russell-Smith

Fire frequency 1997 – 2011

Jeremy Russell-Smith

from Altman & Markham 2014

Fire frequency 2000 – 2011, derived from MODIS imagery

Early dry season

Late dry season

living tree biomass(carbon )

non-living biomass(carbon)

greenhouse gas emissions(methane, nitrous oxide)

WALFA area 28,000 km2

KAKADU NP WALFA

September 2014

WALFA program(a) Seasonality of

burning

(b) GHG Emissions

Carbon credits earned from Savanna burning projects, as at March 2015

Note: 1 carbon credit = 1 t.CO2e = AUD15 (as of May 2015)

Business opportunities and challenges

Fire management to reduce GHG emissions• Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI)…former Govt• Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF)…current Govt• ???...future Govt• Prospects mostly for fire-prone north

Fire management for cultural, biodiversity, environmental and production benefits • Diversification opportunities on the northern pastoral

estate• Long-term vision to develop a ‘biodiversity benefits’

market…GrowNorth initiative as part of current Govt’s ‘northern development’ agenda