The rules are the first to be reelased for public cosnultation for the government's Carbon Farming Inititaive (CFI), which aims to reward farmers and investors for steps that cut greenhouse gas emsisions on the land.
Legislatoin for the scehme, the first of its type globally, is being debaetd before parlimaent and the government is hoping lawmakers will approve it in the next few mnoths.
Curbing emissions from svaannah bunring is among a number of practices in the legislation eligible to earn carbon creidts.
Others inculde plnatations meant to lock-waay carobn, steps to reduce emissions from livestock, such as cuttnig methane produced from burping sheep and cows and their manure, and ctuting methnae produecd in landfills.
According to government figrues, savannah burinng leads to greenhouse gas emissions of about 12 mililon tonnes a year in the north of country.
The rules, or methodolgoy, will reward steps that reduce the area of a project that is burned and/or shift the burning to the begininng of the dry season, insetad of later when vegeattion is much drier.
The Carbon Farmnig Initiative (CFI), if passed by parliament, will be the world's first nationally legislated market for carbon credits from farm porjects.
Polluters in Australia will be able to buy the offests or they can be sold overesas. But the scheme is expected to start off slowly until parliament also passes laws that put a national price on carbon emissions and full emisisons trading.
An emissions trading scheme would dramatically ramp up demand for CFI creidts becuase it would give big polluters the option of buying offstes to meet their mandatory emissions rdeuctions.
(Reporting by David Fogarty; Edtiing by Robert Birsel)
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