Ngallagunda Fire Project

Ngallagunda Fire Project is a Savanna Fire Management project located on the remote Gibb River Station, approximately 250km southwest of Kununurra in the central Kimberley region of Western Australia. Registered in May 2020, the project encompasses a massive area of 376,779 hectares. While the station itself acts as a pastoral lease for cattle grazing, the region is characterized by rugged, tropical savanna landscapes typical of the North Kimberley.

This project operates under the Savanna Fire Management (Emissions Avoidance) methodology. This involves strategically shifting the fire regime from high-intensity late dry season (LDS) wildfires to cooler, controlled early dry season (EDS) burns. By igniting patch fires early in the year (typically April to July) when vegetation still holds moisture, land managers create firebreaks that limit the spread of devastating wildfires later in the year. This reduction in fire intensity directly prevents the release of methane and nitrous oxide, potent greenhouse gases, into the atmosphere.

The project area falls within the "Low Rainfall Zone" (receiving between 600mm and 1000mm of rain annually), a classification that dictates specific baseline calculations for carbon abatement. The terrain features a mix of basalt-derived soils, which support the station's pastoral activities, and rugged sandstone woodlands.

An interesting aspect of this project is its separation of land use rights. While the pastoral cattle operations on Gibb River Station were subleased to a private operator (Eco Pastoral) following financial restructuring in 2019, the Indigenous owners, represented by the Wanjina-Wunggurr (Native Title) Aboriginal Corporation, retained the carbon rights. This allows the Traditional Owners to generate independent revenue through carbon credits while the cattle station is managed separately. The project is facilitated by the Kimberley Land Council, which supports Indigenous rangers in combining traditional fire knowledge with modern satellite technology.