Tropical savannas support more than 10% of the human population, occupy about one-sixth of the global land surface and historically have suffered twice the rate of conversion as tropical forests. They also contribute to about 30% of global terrestrial net primary production, and account for 70% of the global burned area and global carbon emissions from biomass burning. Savanna burning is primarily undertaken by people for a variety of agricultural, pastoral and customary management activities. Given the significant carbon fluxes and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with seasonally severe savanna fires, it has been proposed that active fire management in fire-impacted savannas can significantly reduce GHG emissions and sequester additional carbon in biomass and possibly soil pools. In Australian savannas, reducing carbon emissions through active fire management can generate tradable carbon credits, providing income and employment opportunities for Indigenous and remote communities, and support biodiversity conservation. The success of this management approach has led to suggestions that it can be extended to savannas in other continental settings, for notable example in southern Africa and South America. This special issue of the International Journal of Wildland Fire comprises 20 papers which explore technical challenges, opportunities and potential livelihood and ecological benefits, associated with applying market-based fire management approaches in severely fire-impacted tropical savanna systems.
Russell-Smith et al. (Sun,) studied this question.