Western Top End Savannah Fire Management

Why support this project?

The Western Top End Savannah Fire Management (WTESFM) project is located within the Thamarrurr region of the Northern Territory; an area prone to extreme, devastating wildfires that affect the landscape, people, plants and animals. ​

The Thamarrurr Rangers employ similar techniques as their ancestors – burning areas in the early dry season to reduce wildfires and refresh country – as well as the latest technology to plan and strategically manage “cool fire”. This includes conducting aerial and on-ground burning to prevent late season wildfires and reduce overall carbon emissions. They use satellite technology to track their progress and observe change.​

Who we work with

TEM is proud to work with the Thamarrurr Development Corporation Ltd (TDC) – a non-profit organization formed by the collective ownership of four primary ceremonial groups – the Wangka, Lirrga, Wulthirri, and Tjanpa peoples – and founded by the 20 clans inhabiting the Thamarrurr region.

TDC assumes a pivotal leadership and governance function within the region, bolstering the community’s pursuit of economic self-sufficiency and liberation from dependence on welfare and governmental aid.

Thamarrurr is derived from the local Murinhpatha language and means, ‘coming together to work as one people’. It reflects the ceremonial and traditional foundations of the region’s people.

Community Impact

In addition to reducing harmful emissions, the project also delivers significant social, cultural and economic benefits for Indigenous Australians, for example the employment of local rangers; connecting people back to country and protecting important cultural sites.

Real and Lasting Impact

Permanence: Project activities must represent permanent reductions in GHG emissions. Well-designed savanna fire management activities that are implemented in the early dry season avoid emissions in the late dry season. Avoided emissions are considered permanent.

Additionality: A project is additional if the GHG emissions reductions would not occur without the intervention of the project activities in accordance with the registered project. Savanna fire management activities for the primary purpose of emissions reductions are not required under local, state or law. Further, the application of landscape-scale strategic early dry season fire management is highly resource-intensive, incurring substantial costs. Despite the myriad of benefits that flow from the activities in the Thamarrurr region, they would not occur in the absence of the registered project. Therefore, the project GHG emissions reductions are additional.

Leakage: In the context of savanna fire management projects, leakage refers to the risk that emissions reductions in the project area will generate increased emissions outside the project area. There are no leakage risks associated with this TDC project. Conducting savanna fire management activities in a project area does not increase the risk of high-emissions wildfire in other areas, and/or displace savanna fire management activities in nearby landscapes.

SDGs: The project contributes to the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: