Fire management business in Australia's tropical savannas: Lighting the way for a new ecosystem services model for the north?

A big challenge for northern Australia is developing socially, culturally and environmentally sustainable land management outcomes. This is particularly the case for indigenous people who constitute the majority of the remote rural population and who hold much of the land - either as freehold, leasehold or under emerging Native Title arrangements. Most of these lands are relatively pastorally unproductive. However, there is much scope in fire-prone northern Australia for using fire management to develop market-based environmental services enterprises to generate additional income from the land. This includes carbon farming opportunities associated with savanna burning emissions abatement and carbon sequestration projects.