West Arnhem Land Fire Abatement (WALFA) Project

West Arnhem Land Fire Abatement (WALFA) Project is a Savanna Fire Management project located in Arnhem Land, approximately 300km east of Darwin and 90km northeast of Jabiru in the Northern Territory. It was registered in December 2014 and covers an expansive 2,816,606.94 hectares.

Savanna Fire Management projects involve strategic and planned early dry season burning to reduce the risk, extent, and severity of late dry season wildfires. This methodology significantly reduces overall greenhouse gas emissions because early season fires burn at lower intensities and consume less fuel than unmanaged, catastrophic late-season bushfires.

The Arnhem Land region is largely Aboriginal freehold land dedicated to customary use, cultural preservation, and environmental conservation. The environment falls within a high rainfall classification (receiving over 1000mm annually) and is characterised by tropical savanna woodlands, rugged sandstone escarpments, monsoon rainforests, and expansive river floodplains.

The WALFA project is widely considered a pioneer and an extraordinary success in the Australian carbon industry. Originally commencing in 2006 as a voluntary partnership involving Traditional Owners, Indigenous Ranger groups, the NT Government, and ConocoPhillips (who sought to offset emissions from their Darwin LNG plant), it became the foundational landscape-scale blueprint for the national Savanna Burning Method. Re-registered under the Emissions Reduction Fund in 2014 by ALFA (NT) Limited, an entirely Aboriginal-owned, not-for-profit company, the project generates income that is strictly reinvested into local Indigenous ranger programs. This funds community development, employment, and the preservation of traditional ecological knowledge alongside modern fire management techniques like satellite mapping and helicopter ignition. Interestingly, in February 2016, the Clean Energy Regulator issued a notice requiring the proponent to relinquish 10,644 Kyoto ACCUs related to the project. Corporate buyers who have purchased credits from WALFA to offset their operations include Rio Tinto, Australia Post, and EnergyAustralia.