ABSTRACT

Arnhem Land Fire Abatement (Northern Territory) Limited (ALFA) is a non-profit company established to make a financial return from savanna fire management. It operates as a charitable entity to ensure that its earnings benefit the Aboriginal landowners of Arnhem Land, many living in deep poverty. ALFA is unusual because it must operate at the intersection of Western and customary domains. It catalyses and supports the carbon emission avoidance activities of Aboriginal ranger groups and traditional landowners, who deploy customary and Western fire-management approaches at a large regional scale. Simultaneously, ALFA manages the Australian Carbon Credit Units that it earns, either selling them under contract to the Australian government or to corporate purchasers, or saving them for later sale. In this article we examine the first five years of ALFA since its establishment in 2015 – its origins and more recent history, its achievements and its governance. We then examine several climatic, financial, environmental and politico-cultural challenges that it faces operating in the Australian carbon and conservation economies. We show from diverse perspectives how, during a late-capitalist period of extreme climatic uncertainty, ALFA has evolved into an established model of sustainable postcolonial possibility, as ‘no ordinary’ company.

摘要

阿纳姆土地减燃（北领地）有限公司（ALFA）是一家非营利性公司，其成立目的是从稀树草原火灾管理中获得财务回报。它作为一个慈善实体运作，以确保其收入使阿纳姆土地的土著土地所有者受益，其中许多人生活在极度贫困中。ALFA之所以与众不同，是因为它必须在西方和习惯领域的交叉点上运行。它促进并支持土著护林员团体和传统土地所有者的碳排放避免活动，他们在大范围的区域内部署习惯和西方的火种管理方法。同时，ALFA管理所赚取的澳大利亚碳信用单位，要么根据合同将其出售给澳大利亚政府或企业购买者，要么将其保存以备后用。在本文中，我们考察了ALFA自2015年成立以来的头五年-它的起源和近期历史，成就和治理。然后，我们研究了在澳大利亚的碳经济和保护经济中所面临的一些气候，金融，环境和政治文化挑战。我们从不同的角度展示了在晚期资本主义极端气候不确定性时期，ALFA如何发展成为公认的可持续的后殖民可能性模型，成为“没有普通”的公司。