What is REDD?
REDD stands for Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation, and is a model that promotes avoided deforestation and sustainable forest management in order to protect and enhance existing forest carbon stocks. REDD projects contribute to poverty alleviation by empowering forest communities to earn an income from the carbon offsets that the forests generate. The benefit of the REDD model is that it gives trees a greater value alive, than when cut down, thereby promoting and incentivising responsible forest management and conservation.
How do Carbon Tanzania’s forest conservation projects improve livelihoods?
Forest communities are the stewards of their forest. Forest communities bear the costs of protecting these forests, and as such are the beneficiaries of the carbon offsets generated. When you buy Carbon Tanzania’s carbon offsets your money is paid directly to these communities, rather than to the central government, thereby incentivising and rewarding responsible forest conservation and management. The forest communities distribute the funds generated from the sale of carbon offsets in a variety of ways, most often towards accessing health services, school fees, the governance and enforcement of the community land use plans and development projects.
How does Carbon Tanzania support indigenous land rights?
Carbon Tanzania developes forest conservation projects where communities and local authorities have legal tenure over their land. As the legal owners of the forested lands, tenure-holders must give their consent for the project to be developed. Where legal title over the land is not already held, Carbon Tanzania works with their network of partners to ensure legal tenure is secured.
How do the forest communities use the offset revenue they earn?
A legal agreement describes how carbon offset revenues are shared with our partner communities. The bulk of the revenue is paid directly to the communities. This covers the costs of ensuring that the forest resource is protected, as well as paying for community development needs such access to health services and education. Revenue sharing is designed such that the amount received equals or exceeds the income that could be gained from alternative land-use choices. This incentivises forest communities to take an active role in forest conservation for their own benefit, while also playing a role in climate change mitigation. When revenue is paid to the communities a community meeting is held to formally decide how money should be spent and how much to allocate to each need.
What makes Carbon Tanzania’s forest carbon offsets real, measurable and permanent?
All of Carbon Tanzania’s REDD projects are certified by third party organisations whose standard guarantees that offsets generated by them are real, measurable and permanent. REDD certification means that forest conservation projects adhere to strict standards. These organisations also ensure that both the local forest communities and the biodiversity in those forests genuinely benefit from the forest conservation activities. The Yaeda Valley project is certified by Plan Vivo while the Makame Savannah and Ntakata Mountains projects are both certified by Verra, in combination with the Climate, Community and Biodiversity standard.
How does protecting forests generate carbon offsets?
Forests are the lungs of the earth, absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing life-giving oxygen into the atmosphere. When carbon dioxide is absorbed, the carbon is stored in the roots, trunk and branches of trees – and when deforestation occurs, this stored carbon is released, adding to the existing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and intensifying the greenhouse effect. It is this stored carbon in threatened forests that is measured as carbon offsets.
How do Carbon Tanzania’s offsets address the sustainable development goals?
Our Impact page illustrates how Carbon Tanzania’s work addresses the sustainable development goals.
Why are forests important in addressing climate change?
Forests currently remove around one quarter of the carbon dioxide that humans have added to the atmosphere and it is then stored in the trunks, branches and roots of the trees. This carbon is released when deforestation occurs which currently accounts for approximately 10-15% of all global emissions.
How do Carbon Tanzania’s projects protect wildlife and enhance landscape connectivity?
The founders of Carbon Tanzania are dedicated conservationists with a combined 60 years experience working in landscape ecology and wildlife conservation. They have brought all their knowledge to bear in selecting areas that add significantly to the conservation picture in East Africa. Every area under management has been chosen partly because it contains rare and endangered animals, harbours unique biodiversity and enhances the efforts of existing conservation in the area by connecting large protected areas together.
How much of my money reaches the forest communities?
A legal agreement describes how carbon offset revenues are shared with our partner communities. The bulk of the revenue is paid directly to the communities. This covers the costs of ensuring that the forest resource is protected, as well as paying for community development needs such access to health services and education. Revenue sharing is designed such that the amount received equals or exceeds the income that could be gained from alternative land-use choices. This incentivises forest communities to take an active role in forest conservation for their own benefit, while also playing a role in climate change mitigation. When revenue is paid to the communities a community meeting is held to formally decide how money should be spent and how much to allocate to each need.
Are village governments fair in their dealings?
Unfortunately village governments can sometimes be less than fair when it comes to distributing money and resources amongst forest communities. This is why the revenue raised from the sale of forest carbon offsets is paid directly to the forest communities themselves, who then determine how the money will be allocated going forward. This not only serves to encourage responsible forest management and conservation, but also develops community ownership and a vested interest in the success of the projects. A proportion of the revenue is allocated to the village government to incentivise and support fair and just governance.
Who does Carbon Tanzania work with?
Carbon Tanzania is a network organisation forming strategic partnerships to achieve a common goal and to amplify the impact of all organisations involved. It is in cultivating this network of conservation partners that common threads can be seen – a mutual understanding of the significance of forest community land rights, the development and promotion of good governance, and respect for community development priorities. Partner Some important partners in our projects areas are The Nature Conservancy, Pathfinder International, Ujamaa Community Resource Team, Dorobo Trust, Maliasili Initiatives, Frankfurt Zoological Society, the Jane Goodall Institute, Honeyguide Foundation and the Northern Tanzania Rangelands Initiative.
