Balanggarra 1 Fire Project

Balanggarra 1 Fire Project is a savanna fire management project located approximately 85km northwest of Wyndham in the Wyndham-East Kimberley region of Western Australia. Registered on February 6, 2014, the project covers a vast area of 1,113,766.92 hectares. The regional land use across this immense landscape is largely dominated by Indigenous Protected Areas, national parks (such as portions of the Drysdale River National Park), Aboriginal reserves, and large pastoral leases used for cattle grazing.

Savanna fire management projects involve strategic and planned burning of savanna areas during the early dry season. By reducing the fuel load early on, this methodology decreases the risk, intensity, and extent of catastrophic, late dry-season wildfires, which emit significantly more greenhouse gases. Standard requirements for this methodology include operating within defined high and low rainfall zones, calculating emissions abatement using a prescribed approach like the SavBAT model, and maintaining strict records of traditional and aerial burning operations.

The North and East Kimberley region features a tropical savanna climate characterized by distinct monsoonal wet and dry seasons, encompassing both high and low rainfall classifications. The terrain spans the rugged Kimberley plateau, where soils are typically shallow, lateritic, and sandy or skeletal over a sandstone bedrock, alongside deeper clay and alluvial soils found in river valleys.

An interesting aspect of this project is its profound integration with Indigenous land management and culture. Proponent Balanggarra Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC manages the native title rights for over 2.9 million hectares in the region, operating this project alongside the Kimberley Land Council as part of the broader North Kimberley Fire Abatement Project. Aside from reducing emissions and generating carbon credits, the strategic "right-way" fire practices yield incredible co-benefits, including the protection of cultural sites, the intergenerational transfer of Traditional Knowledge, and meaningful employment for local rangers. In December 2015, the project underwent a variation to successfully expand its project area and transition from the older 2013 methodology to the updated 2015 Savanna Fire Management determination.