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West Arnhem Fire Management Agreement  | | Category: | Agreement | | | Date: | 24 August 2006 | | | Sub Category: | Joint Management Agreement | | Location: | Western Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia | | | The Western Arnhem Land Fire Abatement project covers an area of 28,000 square kilometres (Tropical Savannas CRC 2006). | | Alternative Names: | WAFMA
WALFA
West Arnhem Land Fire Abatement Agreement
| | Subject Matter: | Collaboration / Partnership | Employment and Training | Environmental Heritage | Land Management | | Summary Information: | | The West Arnhem Fire Management Agreement (‘WAFMA’) was signed in August 2006. It creates a partnership between Darwin Liquefied Natural Gas ('DLNG'), the Northern Territory Government, the Northern Land Council (‘NLC’) and Traditional Owners from coastal Maningrida to the headwaters of the Katherine and Mann Rivers.
Under the WAFMA, the Northern Territory Government will contract the NLC and Traditional Owners to implement the fire management strategy (Northern Territory Government 2006). DLNG will provide about $1 million per year for 17 years to the Traditional Owners for this purpose (Savannah Links 2007).
Traditional Owners and land managers will carry out the burning, which will also be monitored by Tropical Savannas CRC (Stephen 2006; Northern Territory Government 2006; Tropical Savannas CRC, Annual Report 2005-06 44).
| | Detailed Information: | | Greenhouse gas emissions offsets
Under the licence terms for its Liquefied Natural Gas plant in Darwin Harbour, DLNG agreed to offset greenhouse gas emissions from the plant (Scrymgour, Parliamentary Debates, June 2006; Tropical Savannas CRC 2006).
WAFMA is designed to offset about 100,000 tonnes of these greenhouse gas emissions per year (NTG). Unchecked wildfires create about 40 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in the Northern Territory (see Northern Territory Government 2006; Savannah Links 2007; Scrymgour, Parliamentary Debates, June 2006). Controlled, patchy grass fires lit in early-mid dry season, when fires are less intense, will reduce unchecked wildfires and emit fewer greenhouse gases (Northern Territory Government 2006; Savannah Links 2007).
The Environment Minister stated that ‘[t]his project legitimises what [Aboriginal traditional owners] have been doing as the scientific evidence has come down to demonstrate that traditional fire management practices, moderate patchwork burning in the early to mid-Dry Season, [produce] lower greenhouse emissions’ (Scrymgour, Parliamentary Debates, August 2006).
Benefits of WAFMA
In addition to reduced greenhouse gas emissions, the reduction in unchecked wildfires brought about by the fire management scheme will protect rock sites, biodiversity and tourist attractions (Northern Territory Government 2006, Savannah Links 2007).
WAFMA will employ local Aboriginal land management rangers (Northern Territory Government 2006). Other benefits for the communities include:
‘providing role models and better career paths for Aboriginal children …
supporting transfer of Indigenous knowledge between generations as elders work with young people
helping people re-establish contact with traditional lands
building English skills and cross-cultural confidence essential to economic activities such as tourist enterprises [and]
supporting partnerships between remote communities leading to improved social and economic coordination’ (Savannah Links 2007; see also Tropical Savannas CRC 2006).
Development of WAFMA
WAFMA took about ten years to develop (ABC Rural 2006). The Minister for the Environment explained its origins: ‘[s]ince the early 1990s, visionary Territorians such as Lofty Bardayal Nadjamerrek AO … have been agitating to reinstate traditional Aboriginal land and fire management practices in their country on the Arnhem plateau. With the aid of organisations such as the Jawoyn Association and Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation, traditional owners have built ranger programs from the ground up in preparation for the realisation of this dream’ (Scrymgour, Parliamentary Debates, June 2006). The idea also relied on research by Tropical Savannas CRC, CSIRO, Bushfires NT, the Australian Greenhouse Office, the NT Department of Natural Resources Environment and the Arts and Western Australia’s Department of Land Information (Savannah Links 2007).
With this information, the NLC and NTG ‘approached Darwin LNG, then ConocoPhillips, with a proposal to establish a greenhouse abatement project’ (Scrymgour, Parliamentary Debates, June 2006).
Other possible agreements
WAFMA is an example of the use of traditional burning practices producing greenhouse gas emissions savings that can then be traded with companies (see generally Common Ground 2007).
The CRC notes that ‘[o]ther large corporations in the mining and energy sectors are in talks with the Centre to broker similar offset agreements with local land managers that are based on the Centre’s research and adoption record in more effective fire and land management in north Australia’ (Tropical Savannas CRC, Annual Report 2005-06 44).
| | | Outcomes: | | The first year of the WAFMA project reportedly resulted in a reduction of 256,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases, which is more than double the targetted figure (IED update 2008).
In August 2007, the WAFMA project won the IAG Eureka Prize for Innovative Solutions to Climate Change presented by the Australian Museum (Australian Museum 2007; Tropical Savannas CRC 2007: 2; IED update 2008). | |
Related Entries | | Organisation | | Northern Land Council - Signatory | | Northern Territory of Australia - Signatory | | Darwin LNG Pty Ltd - Signatory | | People | | Traditional Owners from coastal Maningrida to the headwaters of the Katherine and Mann Rivers - Signatory |
References | | General Reference | | Tropical Savannas CRC (2006) West Arnhem Land Fire Abatement Project | | Adam Stephen, ABC Rural (25 August 2006) Best of both worlds to fight fire with fire | | ABC Rural (25 August 2006) Fire Deal Links Science, Indigenous Knowledge | | Fran Bancroft, Julie Crough, Kate O'Donnell and Peter Jacklyn (September 2006) 'West Arnhem Land Fire Management Agreement' in Savannah Guides Communication | | Indigenous Economic Development Unit, Northern Territory Government (March 2008) West Arnhem Land Fire Abatement Agreement: Smoking out greenhouse gas credits | | Australian Museum (2007) 2007 Winner: Innovative Solutions to Climate Change: West Arnhem Land Wildfire Abatement | | Tropical Savannas CRC (2007) Eureka win for Arnhem Land fire project, in Issue 34, Savanna Links | | Magazine | | Tropical Savannas CRC (2006) 'Fire agreement to strengthen communities' in Issue 33, Savanna Links | | Media Release | | Marion Scrymgour, Minister for Environment, Northern Territory Government (24 August 2006) Multi-Million Dollar Arnhem Land Greenhouse Gas Fire Sale | | Newspaper Article | | Northern Territory Government (January 2007) 'Fire plan leads the world' in Issue 8, Common Ground | | Report | | Tropical Savannas CRC (2006) Annual Report 2005-06 | | Resource | | Dr Rebecca Carter (March 2007) CSIRO Submission to the Response to Issues Paper of the Prime Minister's Task Group on Emissions Trading | | Hansard | | Marion Scrymgour (15 June 2006) Parliamentary Debates | | Marion Scrymgour (24 August 2006) Parliamentary Debates |
Glossary | | Joint Management Agreement |
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