A cull of feral buffalo in the Northern Territory could significantly reduce the emission of methane - a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming, researchers from Charles Darwin University have found.
Water buffalo, like all ruminants such as camels, goats and deer, produce methane through their digestion.
With the help of 20-year simulations of feral water buffalo populations, CDU tried to estimate how much methane production would be avoided on a parcel of land in the South Alligator River region of Kakadu National Park if feral buffalo were culled in large numbers.
CDU research paper author Hugh Davies said this was not about individual 'bounties', but about exploring ways to incentivise the ongoing control of large feral ruminants.
"We're looking at how feral animal control programs impact future populations and what that means for methane emissions over the next 20 years," he said.
"This research is an important proof of concept that ongoing feral ruminant control could be financially viable."
According to the modelling without control, the methane produced by feral buffalo across the study area would increase from the equivalent of 7792 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year to 97,282 tonnes a year.
Limiting the increase of buffalo numbers through annual aerial control could avoid the release of more than 790,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas over the 20-year simulation, the research found.
The CDU modelling found that the control of feral buffaloes could be worth millions in carbon offsets, changing the economics of control programs.
Water buffalo control measures in the Northern Territory have helped protect vital ecosystems in the past but such programs are often too expensive to maintain for long.
Ecologists now suggest that this would no longer be the case if it was possible to generate carbon credits by culling the feral animals.
Estimates of the net worth of the abatement are more than $1 million per year.
The research paper, which was published this month in Wildlife Research, concluded that the potential value of the avoided methane emissions resulting from controlling water buffalo far exceeded the costs of applying aerial control operations.
But Mr Davies, a mammal conservation expert, cautioned that much more research was needed in this space and that the modelling was based on assumptions such as the carrying capacity of the landscape, which would have to be tested and examined further.
"This is just the start of the research, but it throws up some ideas we should consider in carbon offsets," he said.
"This approach could incentivise the control of numerous destructive feral animals which has often been put in the too hard basket - such as feral camels in the outback, or the booming feral deer populations in Victoria, NSW and Tassie.
"This is an exciting prospect.
"It changes everything and would have massive ecological benefits."
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Annie Hesse
I am an award-winning media and communications professional with experience across print, digital, social and radio broadcast, as well as photography and videography. I am the NT Correspondent at Australian Community Media and I write for my hometown newspaper, the Katherine Times. I love telling people's stories, and I am passionate about giving those a voice who may otherwise remain unheard. When I am not busy putting pen to paper, I spend time in my garden, go bushwalking or travel across the Northern Territory, Australia or the world. In my spare time I write, illustrate and publish books.
I am an award-winning media and communications professional with experience across print, digital, social and radio broadcast, as well as photography and videography. I am the NT Correspondent at Australian Community Media and I write for my hometown newspaper, the Katherine Times. I love telling people's stories, and I am passionate about giving those a voice who may otherwise remain unheard. When I am not busy putting pen to paper, I spend time in my garden, go bushwalking or travel across the Northern Territory, Australia or the world. In my spare time I write, illustrate and publish books.
