West Arnhem Land Fire Abatement (WALFA) Project

West Arnhem Land Fire Abatement (WALFA) Project is a savanna fire management project located in the remote West Arnhem region of the Northern Territory, stretching east of the township of Jabiru. It was registered in December 2014 and covers an immense 2,816,606.94 hectares.

Savanna fire management projects involve the strategic, controlled burning of savanna areas during the early dry season. By combining customary Indigenous fire practices with modern technology, the methodology calculates a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by creating a patchwork of firebreaks. This limits fuel loads and drastically reduces the frequency, severity, and extent of unmanaged, destructive late dry season wildfires compared to a historical baseline.

The West Arnhem region is characterized by vast Aboriginal estates and Indigenous Protected Areas that are primarily managed for conservation and traditional cultural uses. Situated in a tropical monsoonal climate, the area has distinct wet and dry seasons and is considered a high rainfall zone. The local environment features varied soil profiles, typically consisting of shallow, stony rudosols on the rugged sandstone of the Arnhem Plateau, alongside kandosols (red and yellow earthy soils) across the broader savannas.

WALFA is internationally renowned as the first savanna burning carbon abatement project in the world. It originally launched as a voluntary offset arrangement in 2006 before transitioning into the national carbon crediting scheme. The project is managed by ALFA (NT) Limited, an entirely Aboriginal-owned, not-for-profit organization that reinvests all carbon credit revenue back into local Indigenous ranger groups to fund employment and ongoing land care. The project has undergone various administrative changes, including a 2016 relinquishment of 10,644 Kyoto Australian carbon credit units and a recent variation of proponent in May 2026 to consolidate management solely under ALFA (NT) Limited.