Drysdale River NP - Savanna Burning Project (Revoked)

Drysdale River NP - Savanna Burning Project (Revoked) is a Savanna Fire Management project located in the remote North Kimberley region of Western Australia, approximately 100km south of the Kalumburu community and 150km west of Wyndham. Registered in December 2017 and covering a massive 446,844 hectares within the Drysdale River National Park, the project was established by the Western Australian Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.

The project operated under the 2015 Savanna Fire Management methodology, which generates carbon credits by shifting fire regimes from late dry season (LDS) wildfires to strategic early dry season (EDS) burns. By conducting cooler, patchy burns early in the year when vegetation is still moist, the project aims to create firebreaks that prevent large, hot, and intense wildfires later in the season. This reduction in fire intensity directly lowers the emission of methane and nitrous oxide, potent greenhouse gases released by burning biomass.

Situated in the high rainfall zone of the Kimberley, the project area experiences a tropical monsoonal climate with distinct wet and dry seasons. The landscape is characterized by rugged sandstone gorges, open woodlands, and waterfalls, with soils that are predominantly sandy and skeletal, derived from the underlying sandstone plateau. As a National Park, the primary land use is conservation and wilderness protection, with the park being notable for its inaccessibility and lack of public roads.

The project was revoked on December 18, 2020. This revocation was likely an administrative transition to allow the proponent to register the project under the newer 2018 Savanna Fire Management methodology. A new project with the same name (Project ID: ERF160332) is currently active on the Clean Energy Regulator's register, indicating the carbon abatement activities have continued under the updated framework which often allows for the accounting of carbon sequestration in dead organic matter in addition to emissions avoidance.