Western Top End Fire Management Project Area A (Revoked)

Western Top End Fire Management Project Area A (Revoked) was a savanna fire management project located in the West Daly region of the Northern Territory. The massive 663,401-hectare project area spanned the landscape between the indigenous communities of Wadeye (Port Keats) and Peppimenarti, approximately 250km southwest of Darwin. Registered in September 2015, the project was revoked in April 2018.

The region consists of tropical savanna characterized by high seasonal rainfall and monsoonal weather patterns. Soils in this area are typically sandy loams and red earths, supporting vast grasslands and open eucalypt woodlands. The primary land use in this remote region is indigenous land management and conservation, with some pastoral leases operating in the vicinity. The project's large footprint suggests it likely covered significant portions of the Port Keats Daly River Aboriginal Land Trust.

This project operated under the Early Dry Season Savanna Burning methodology. This method involves strategic, planned burning during the cooler early dry season (typically before August) to reduce the fuel load. By doing so, land managers prevent high-intensity, uncontrolled wildfires during the late dry season, which release significantly more greenhouse gases. The project generates carbon credits by calculating the emissions avoided compared to a historical baseline of late-season fires.

An interesting aspect of this project is its revocation and likely transition. The proponent, James Benjamin Lewis, is a prominent Northern Territory pastoralist and member of the Vernon/Arafura Regional Bushfires Committee. Following the project's revocation in 2018, the area appears to have been transitioned to the Thamarrurr Development Corporation under the new project "Western Top End Savanna Fire Management Project - WTE SFM" (ERF160973). This shift reflects a broader trend in the sector where management of carbon projects on Aboriginal land is transferred to Traditional Owner corporations. James Lewis continues to manage the separate Claravale Fire Project in the same region.