Central Arnhem Land Fire Abatement (CALFA) Project

Central Arnhem Land Fire Abatement (CALFA) Project is a savanna fire management project located in Central Arnhem Land near the remote communities of Maningrida and Ramingining, roughly 500km east of Darwin in the Northern Territory. It was registered in December 2014 and covers 2,556,621.66ha.

Savanna fire management projects involve strategic and planned burning of savanna areas during the early dry season to safely reduce the fuel load. This standard methodology requirement limits the risk and severity of unmanaged late dry season wildfires, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions like methane and nitrous oxide.

The Arnhem Land region is largely characterised by traditional Aboriginal land management, conservation, and cultural heritage protection. The project area is situated in a high rainfall tropical monsoon climate and soils are generally Kandosols (red, earthy soils), Rudosols (shallow and stony soils common on the Arnhem Plateau), and Hydrosols across the seasonally inundated floodplains.

This project is deeply intertwined with Indigenous cultural practices and local empowerment. ALFA (NT) Limited, the proponent, is an entirely Aboriginal-owned, not-for-profit carbon farming business. The CALFA project supports several Indigenous ranger groups, including the Mimal Rangers and the Arafura Swamp Rangers, who blend traditional ecological knowledge with modern technology (such as aerial burning) to care for Country. The project evolved from the pioneering West Arnhem Land Fire Abatement (WALFA) model and officially underwent a name variation from WALFA Stage 2 to CALFA in 2017. All income generated from the sale of Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) is reinvested directly into these communities to support land conservation and local development.