Tackling Australia's wildfires, reducing emissions and protecting ecosystems
In 2019 Australia experienced its most catastrophic bushfire season in modern history - with up to 19 million hectares devastated and nearly 3 billion animals impacted. While bushfires are a typical feature of Australian summers, the intensity of this event was unlike any other - with parched land and increased global temperatures leading drivers in the crisis. As extreme weather becomes more frequent with climate change, more solutions are needed to mitigate the spread of wildfires, preventing similar disasters from happening in the future.
Protecting assets (land, infrastructure and livestock/agricultural products) due to reduced incidents of fire.
Avoided emissions from late dry season fires between 2015-2036 by implementing traditional savanna fire management practices in the early dry season
Plant and animal populations are protected from the high intensity of wildfires. Low intensity fires are easier to recover from and have smaller impact on food availability and reproduction.
Mainoru contracts Firesticks to create annual fire management plans and conduct planned early dry season burns. Firesticks is an Indigenous-run organisation that provides cultural burning services to landowners in Northern Australia. This allows Indigenou
Partnerships and agreements between landholders, South Pole and their implementation partner (Firesticks) to achieve emission reductions and biodiversity conservation goals
The Mainrou Fire Management project, situated closely to Katherine in Northern Australia, aims to prevent the spread of uncontrolled wildfires through evidence based ‘savanna burning’ techniques. Through the use of prescribed fires in the early dry season, the project helps to prevent the release of large volumes of greenhouse gases (GHG) that are released later in the year due to uncontrolled burning. Mainoru’s landowners, a family that have lived in the area for generations, have been conducting fire management activities for the last 10 years and have successfully reduced emissions every year since 2011.
A plethora of benefits can be realised through the project, with the most obvious being the reduction of significant quantities of GHGs which helps in combating global climate change at large. At a local and regional level, the project effectively protects essential infrastructure, cultural sites and biodiversity that are threatened by wildfires in the area. Additionally, by providing carbon finance to local landowners, the project provides support in ongoing conservation management.
