Zimbabwe Forest Protection Stalled by Slow Sale of Carbon Credits
One of the world's largest forest conservation projects has managed to curb deforestation in northern Zimbabwe, but the slow sale of carbon credits – on which the project depends – threatens its expansion, its organisers said.
Some 785,000 hectares of prime forest in Mashonaland West province have been preserved since the Kariba REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) project began in 2011.
Villagers make money from the sale of carbon credits they earn by not cutting down the trees, said Charles Ndondo, whose company Carbon Green Africa spearheaded the project.
By protecting the natural forest and planting new trees, the project has managed to prevent emissions of more than 5.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, Ndondo said.
But expanding the project is proving difficult.
Andrew Ashton