'Wunambal Gaambera Uunguu Fire Project

Wunambal Gaambera Uunguu Fire Project is a Savanna Fire Management project located at the far north Kimberley region in Western Australia, approximately 130km southwest of the remote community of Kalumburu and over 500km northwest of Kununurra. It was registered in February 2014 and covers a vast 843,925 hectares of Wanjina Wunggurr native title land.

Savanna fire management projects involve the strategic and planned burning of savanna areas during the cooler, early dry season. By shifting fire patterns to this earlier period, the methodology creates firebreaks and reduces fuel loads. This effectively mitigates the risk, extent, and severity of unmanaged and highly destructive wildfires in the late dry season, thereby significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The far north Kimberley region is largely comprised of Aboriginal native title lands and conservation reserves, including the Mitchell River National Park. Regional land use primarily focuses on traditional cultural management, environmental conservation, and low-impact tourism. The area is classified as a high rainfall savanna zone, receiving over 1,000mm of rain annually, with typical soils including rugged sandstone lithosols, lateritic profiles, and pockets of nutrient-rich basalt that support monsoon vine thickets.

Operated by the Wunambal Gaambera Aboriginal Corporation (WGAC), this initiative forms part of the broader North Kimberley Fire Abatement Project alongside neighboring Indigenous groups. Using traditional 'Right-Way Fire' knowledge combined with modern techniques like aerial incendiary burning from helicopters, the Uunguu Rangers have achieved remarkable success. Before the project, late dry season wildfires historically ravaged up to 22% of the project area annually, but under managed operations, this has been restricted to less than 10%. Beyond generating carbon credits, the project provides immense co-benefits, such as protecting ancient rock art sites from fire-induced cracking, safeguarding wildlife habitats, and funding ongoing community ranger programs.