Central Arnhem Land Fire Abatement (CALFA) Project

Central Arnhem Land Fire Abatement (CALFA) Project is a significant Savanna Fire Management project located in the remote Central Arnhem Land region of the Northern Territory. Registered in December 2014, the project covers a vast area of approximately 2.55 million hectares. The project operates across Aboriginal freehold land, situated roughly 350km east of Darwin and extending south-east from the community of Maningrida towards Bulman.

The project operates under the 2015 Savanna Fire Management methodology (high rainfall zone). This involves the strategic implementation of cool, early dry season (EDS) burns to reduce the fuel load, primarily tropical grasses and leaf litter. By burning early in the year when conditions are cooler and vegetation retains moisture, the project prevents the spread of high-intensity, uncontrolled wildfires during the late dry season (LDS). This shift in fire seasonality significantly reduces emissions of methane and nitrous oxide.

Environmentally, the region is characterized as a high rainfall tropical savanna, receiving over 600mm of rain annually, primarily during the wet season (November to April). The landscape is diverse, featuring the rugged sandstone escarpments of the Arnhem Land Plateau, open eucalypt woodlands, and extensive floodplains. The soils vary from the sandy, stony tenosols of the plateau to the heavier alluvial clays found in the low-lying wetlands.

A notable aspect of this project is its governance and historical context. It is managed by ALFA (NT) Limited, a company owned entirely by Aboriginal landowners. The project originally evolved from the "West Arnhem Land Fire Abatement Stage 2" initiative, making it a direct successor to the historic WALFA project, the world’s first savanna burning carbon project. On-ground operations are delivered by several Indigenous ranger groups, including the Mimal Rangers and the Arafura Swamp Rangers, ensuring that Traditional Ecological Knowledge is integrated with modern satellite monitoring.