Fish River Fire Project

Fish River Fire Project is a Savanna Fire Management project located at Fish River Station, approximately 50km south of Daly River and 150km south of Darwin in the Northern Territory. It was registered in October 2012 and covers 178,083.49 ha.

Savanna Fire Management projects involve strategic and planned burning of savanna areas in high rainfall zones during the early dry season. This standard methodology requirement safely reduces the accumulation of flammable ground fuel, lowering the risk, intensity, and frequency of massive, unmanaged late dry season wildfires, thereby reducing overall greenhouse gas emissions.

The Daly River region is known predominantly for pastoralism, specifically beef cattle grazing, alongside significant protected conservation areas. The area is classified as a high rainfall tropical savanna with highly distinct wet and dry seasons. Soils in this basin generally consist of deep, earthy red Kandosols, iron-rich Ferrosols, and cracking clay Vertosols found near the river floodplains.

This project was a landmark initiative, serving as the first Indigenous early dry season savanna burning project to earn carbon credits under the Carbon Farming Initiative, and the first of its kind to sell Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) to a corporate buyer, Caltex. The Fish River property was jointly purchased in 2011 by the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation (ILSC) in partnership with the Australian Government and conservation groups such as The Nature Conservancy. The project actively employs Aboriginal rangers and traditional owners to conduct fire management programs. This work simultaneously protects vital biodiversity in the area, including the threatened northern quoll, Gouldian finch, and the culturally significant pig-nosed turtle. Over the years, the project has seen multiple methodology variations, and the proponent varied to include Corporate Carbon Solutions Pty Ltd in 2015 before reverting solely to the ILSC in 2022. The project successfully completed its initial carbon abatement contract (CAC102372) in May 2020.