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Indigenous fire to save CO2 emissions

Indigenous fire

Aboriginal people traditionally kept major fires in savannahs in check (Source: CSIRO)

Traditional Aboriginal burning practices in Australia's savannah country could reduce national greenhouse emissions by nearly 5 megatonnes a year and trigger a $52 million-a-year industry, says one expert.

Environmental economist Scott Heckbert of the CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems in Townsville made the comments following a meeting today in Canberra to discuss climate change and Indigenous people.

The Black Saturday fires of Australia's southeast may still be fresh in the minds of many, but Heckbert says 90% of fires actually occur in the continent's far north.

Each year large swathes of savannah are deluged by rain during the wet season, which boosts the growth of native grasses.

Traditionally, Aboriginal people would burn off these grasses using relatively small fires lit in a mosaic pattern, early in the dry season.

Joe Morrison from Northern Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance (NAILSMA) says Indigenous people would use these "cool" burns to attract kangaroos and birds.

But since European settlement, Indigenous management of the land has declined.

"Aboriginal people have been removed out of the landscape," says Morrison.

"People have been forced into missions, settlements, stations and those sorts of things. That means that people aren't able to burn holistically in the same way as they used to."

This means savanna grasses are left to grow and become perfect fuel for uncontrollable fires late in the dry season.

"Fire is not put into the landscape at an appropriate time and you get an even spread of grass across the landscape," says Heckbert. "If you light one side of it, it will keep travelling and not stop and burn vast areas of land."

He says Australian savannah fires contribute 14 megatonnes of greenhouse emissions a year, or 3% of the total national emissions.

Elder knowledge

Recent scientific research has shown traditional prescribed burning practices in savannahs are kinder to biodiversity and emit less carbon.

NAILSMA has led a push to combine scientific know-how with the knowledge of Indigenous elders to come up with the best plan for when and where to burn.

Heckbert says science is able to provide tools to measure and monitor rainfall, fuel growth, emissions and offsets, as well as the technology - from helicopters to drip torches - to make burning faster and more effective.

He and colleagues estimate the greenhouse offsets derived from Indigenous management of savannahs could amount to 4.8 megatonnes, if all savannahs were managed in this way.

Assuming a carbon price of $20 a tonne, this would amount to $52 million in revenue, if the offsets were sold on a carbon market, says Heckbert.

In addition the move would create more than 1000 jobs for Indigenous people, he says.

The bigger picture

Heckbert says carbon markets are generally focused on finding the cheapest carbon abatement options, without considering other environmental and social impacts.

But, he says switching to Indigenous management of savannahs would not only save emissions, improve biodiversity and provide Indigenous jobs, it would also allow Indigenous people to use their traditional knowledge.

He suggests this could help in the project of reconciliation, which he describes as "perhaps even far more valuable" than just saving greenhouse gases.

The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme white paper outlines the government's commitment to include Indigenous communities in carbon markets in some way.

But exactly how Indigenous management of savannahs could be linked to emissions trading is unknown at this stage.

This is something that bothers Morrison, who wants to make sure any savings in greenhouse emissions, through use of Indigenous land management, is formally acknowledged.

He agrees with Heckbert, who says one option would be to earmark a proportion of the sale of emission permits to help fund the development of Indigenous management of savannahs.
