A new carbon offsetting industry could create up to 1,029 new jobs for Indigenous Australians and generate income of AUD52 (USD34) million per year according to a new CSIRO report.
The study of six Indigenous Land Corporation properties across Western Australia, Northern Territory, and Queensland looked at land management practices including fire management, reforestation and grazing land management. These practices can sequester carbon or change emissions regimes and the change in carbon stocks or emissions could be sold as offsets.
“This research found potential greenhouse emissions offsets from fire management on Indigenous lands are worth AUD52 (USD34) million per year to Indigenous communities,” says CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems Chief Dr Dan Walker.
“In employment terms this is equivalent to 346 full-time jobs or 1029 seasonal jobs for Indigenous people."
“This industry could prevent 2.6 million tonnes of carbon entering the atmosphere each year."
“Indigenous lands account for 54 per cent of all potential emissions reductions from Australia’s fire-prone savannas and rangelands, meaning that Indigenous contributions to greenhouse gas abatement are very significant to Australia,” he says.
Prominent Indigenous leader, Joe Ross, said this research is a positive development especially in light of the role Indigenous people can play in helping reduce carbon emissions through savanna burning and forestry land management.
“Our people are often best placed to help mitigate the impacts of climate change because of where they live and their unique knowledge of the land,” Ross says. “This research is an encouraging sign that Indigenous people can have a key role in tackling climate change as well as actively participating in Australia’s emerging carbon economy.”
Ross is Chair of the Northern Australia Land and Water Task force which is tackling environmental, economic and social challenges in northern Australia, including looking at the opportunities and threats to Indigenous people resulting from climate change.
Indigenous fire management for carbon offsets has multiple benefits – greenhouse mitigation, biodiversity protection and helping to break the poverty cycle in Indigenous communities. Other issues of importance in Indigenous land management for carbon offsets are property rights on Indigenous lands, side effects on other natural resource management considerations such as biodiversity and water availability, and whether offset projects are compatible with traditional land management practices.
Dr Walker warned that while the preliminary study demonstrates that greenhouse gas offsets from Indigenous land management can operate on paper more research was needed to further explore the potential of the research findings.
