Carbon Management + Fire Stewardship

Gathering Voices Society is documenting the potential for Indigenous fire stewardship to mitigate intensive wildfires and any potential greenhouse gas emissions savings.

Project Overview

Working collaboratively with the Yunesit’in fire stewards and carbon experts since late 2021, Gathering Voices Society has been evaluating how verified carbon credits could be generated from Indigenous fire stewardship activities that reduce fuel loads and mitigate high intensity wildfires.

The goal of this project is to build an Indigenous fire stewardship carbon-credit framework within the Canadian context, which could generate revenue for First Nations.

In 2022, we initiated data collection by establishing a plot network to collect baseline data of pre-burn forest fuel biomass. Data collection efforts are continuing and aim to understand the effects of Indigenous fire stewardship on forest fuel biomass. To forecast the carbon savings, we are developing a modeling approach that uses the collected data to simulate wildfire behavior, probability and emissions. Our target is to continue to collect data from additional plots over the next two years.

Context and Purpose

Indigenous fire stewardship programs in Australia have been shown to mitigate large scale wildfires in savanna ecosystems and reduce greenhouse gas emissions at a scale that produces carbon credits to be sold to private and public buyers. These carbon credits can generate sustainable livelihoods for Indigenous communities that are at the forefront of wildfire risk.

By understanding the potential long-term revenues from carbon credit sales, Yunesit’in (and other First Nations communities) can plan strategically and assess the appropriate landscape level scale, with revenues that will strengthen and support Indigenous Fire stewardship efforts.