Carbon Tanzania hands over Sh4.7 billion to local community

In a bid to bring about positive changes to its citizens and avail them financially, the Government has been forging relentless synergies with a number of local and global institutions.

The synergies have greatly helped the citizens to seize income-gener­ating potentials from various activi­ties carried out by these institutions.

Carbon Tanzania has been one of the organisations that collabo­rate closely with the Government through the implementation of its projects.

Carbon Tanzania is a local com­pany that collaborates closely with the Government to create economic value in natural resources for rural communities through sustainable management of forests and biodi­versity.

Through its projects, Carbon Tan­zania generates forest-based carbon credits that enable Tanzania’s local resource owners to earn revenues from the protection of their natural resources.

These carbon credits allow busi­nesses to invest in a nature-based solution that serves the climate, local communities and wildlife.

Carbon Tanzania contracts with local communities to ensure the lat­ter become effective stewards of the forests through community-created land use plans.

The organisation provides the link to the global financial system to ena­ble local communities to earn rev­enues from the protection of their forests and wildlife.

Through the implementation of its Yaeda-Eyasi Landscapes project and Makame Savannah projects, on November 14, 2023, Carbon Tanza­nia presented a cheque for Sh 4.7 billion generated from the projects’ implementation over the past year.

The cheque was handed over by the Finance Director of Carbon Tan­zania Alphael Jackson to the Minis­ter of State in the Vice President’s Office (Union, and Environment), Mr Selemani Jafo, who presented it to Manyara Regional Commissioner Queen Sendiga, who received it on behalf of the administrations and residents of Mbulu and Kiteto dis­tricts.

The handover ceremony was held at White Rose grounds in Babati dis­trict, Manyara Region.

The event was also attended by various leaders, including Kiteto District Commissioner Mbaraka Batenga, Mbulu District Commis­sioner Kheri James, as well as other government officials and citizens.

Carbon Tanzania Co-Founder and CEO Marc Baker says the com­pany has been engaging in business with communities surrounding for­est areas.

“We collaborate with the local community and the Government in our main activities, so through the revenue generated by our projects’ activities, we have been allocating funds and handing them over to the Government to facilitate the imple­mentation of various social activi­ties,” says Baker.

He says the Sh4.7 billion funds were part of the earnings from the implementation of the Yaeda-Eya­si Landscapes project and the Makame Savannah projects in Man­yara Region for a period of one year (2022/2023).

“In this business, village govern­ments through their citizens have been able to improve health services, education, water and infrastructure, which is our key goal, and through collaborating with the Government, we impact the lives of the local com­munity,” says Mr Baker.

At the highest level, carbon finance is more about involving communi­ties in the global financial system and allowing very remote communi­ties to have access to such a system.

“Our projects recognize the cru­cial role of local communities and depend on their active involvement. Through inclusive decision-mak­ing, local communities determine the allocation portion of our gross revenue, supporting initiatives like building schools or healthcare facil­ities,” says Mr Baker.

Yaeda-Eyasi Landscapes project

The project was established in 2012 with the first carbon revenue earned in 2013. The project focuses on protecting the forested ances­tral homeland of the Hadza hunt­er-gatherers and Datooga pastoral­ists by establishing their ownership of the natural resources in their ter­ritory and legal enforcement against encroachment.

The Yaeda-Eyasi Landscape Pro­ject expanded in 2021 to include 12 villages in total. Due to this and an increase in carbon revenue, the communities of the Yaeda-Eya­si Landscape project were able to employ additional staff to ensure they can effectively protect their threatened forests.

In 2021, an additional 115 Village Game Scouts were recruited across the nine villages, along with two financial officers and one additional community coordinator.

These newly created roles ensure that the community-owned forests are well protected and that every member of the community will share in the benefits.

Makame Savannah project

This project started in 2016 with the first carbon revenue earned in 2020. The project focuses on con­serving critical habitat for protected wildlife by engaging with the Maasai to set up community land use plans that keep their cattle, themselves, and the ecosystem healthy.

The communities of the Makame Savannah project focused on improving access to education throughout 2022. A girls’ dormitory was built for 70 school-aged girls, without which they would not have been allowed to attend school due to traditional taboos around girls shar­ing sleeping facilities with boys.

To further improve access to education across all age groups, the community used carbon revenue to pay for the fees of more than 100 stu­dents at various universities across the country.

Carbon Tanzania’s work directly protects wildlife-rich forest habi­tats in connected landscapes where communities could not historically financially realise the value of their natural assets.

Carbon Tanzania’s current busi­ness model delivers revenues for nature conservation to local com­munities from the voluntary carbon market.