Combining traditional fire management, modern science and private capital to advance carbon as Australia’s next high-growth natural resource.
Marc Train, Chief Executive Officer, Corporate Carbon Group
Savanna fire management (SFM) is reshaping the nation’s carbon market and strengthening regional economies. This uniquely Australian success story connects traditional First Nations-led ecological knowledge with modern technology to deliver practical climate action.
The results are fewer uncontrolled fires and lower overall fire related emissions. Through employment, income generation and knowledge sharing opportunities, SFM projects also deliver enduring social benefits for some of the country’s most remote communities.
BRIDGING TRADITION, TECHNOLOGY AND INVESTOR TRUST
For tens of thousands of years, Indigenous Australians have used small, controlled burns early in the dry season to care for Country and prevent large, destructive wildfires later in the year. Today, helicopters and aerial ignition, satellite mapping and data modelling have enhanced and scaled this practice, enabling coordinated early dry season burning across hundreds of thousands of square kilometres of northern Australia.
Since 2016, emissions from Australia’s tropical savannas have fallen by 89 per cent, reflecting the impact of strategic early-season burning guided by Traditional Owners and regional ranger programs. While savanna fire management has historically delivered emissions avoidance, a new method now in development will also credit carbon stored in persistent living and dead biomass protected from destructive burns, expanding the approach to include measurable removals. Together, these advances create a clearer picture of how SFM contributes to both emissions reduction and carbon storage.
DRIVING EMISSIONS REDUCTION
As Australia defines its path to net zero and tightens emissions targets under the Safeguard Mechanism, demand for high-integrity carbon credits continues to grow.
SFM sits at the centre of the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme. Across Australia, SFM projects generate around 1.4 million ACCUs each year, creating measurable environmental outcomes while strengthening regional enterprise. Many of these projects operate in harmony with pastoral and agricultural businesses, where coordinated early-season burning reduces wildfire risk, improves land condition and supports more productive grazing.
BUILDING REGIONAL STRENGTH THROUGH COLLABORATION
Since 2010, Corporate Carbon Group has worked alongside Traditional Owners, landholders and local organisations to develop projects through genuine partnership and rigorous due diligence. Our role extends beyond project delivery to advocating for the method itself, ensuring that new SFM methodologies reflect cultural expertise, scientific rigour and real, tangible benefits for communities on the ground.
Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (2025). National Inventory Report 2023. Figure 6.1.11.