Charles Darwin University's Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods (RIEL) has supported the news that savanna burning methodology is now an officially accredited means of storing carbon in the vast savannas of northern Australia.
Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government, Simon Crean, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Joe Ludwig, and Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Mark Dreyfus, have announced the latest Carbon Farming Initiative methodology.
RIEL Director Professor Andrew Campbell said the announcement by Federal Ministers was great news for Territory landholders and for the environment.
"It is a very encouraging development,” Professor Campbell said. “This accreditation will encourage practices that will lead to a reduction in the amount of carbon being released into the atmosphere."
Professor Campbell said the move was also an opportunity for improved employment opportunities for Indigenous Territorians.
“It is a win-win situation,” he said. “Indigenous land managers and pastoralists will be able to generate carbon credits through a coordinated savanna fire management strategy.”
The methodology involved extensive collaborative input from Territory researchers working in Bushfires NT, CSIRO, the North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance and at CDU.
Information about the methodology and Carbon Farming Initiative is available on the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency website at: www.climatechange.gov.au/cfi