VGS in Training – Enhancing Forest Protection

In March Marc and I took an operations team trip through two of Tanzania’s iconic conservation areas, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and the Serengeti National Park. But unlike many tourists coming to Tanzania where these are common destinations, our safari was planned so that we could visit a group of Carbon Tanzania’s community scouts who […]
Signing up to Forest Conservation

A milestone for the Ntakata project was reached on the 3rd October 2018 when eight villages in remote Western Tanzania took a big step towards the long-term conservation of their wildlife-rich natural forests. The communities signed a 30 year contract with Carbon Tanzania committing to prevent the illegal destruction of their Village Land Forest Reserves. […]
How do Masai Herders Learn about Carbon Forestry

In 2018 Carbon Tanzania rolled out its “Carbon Champions” programme, an experimental scheme designed to communicate the complex nature of carbon forest projects to the communities of Makame WMA. We wanted to address the challenge, common to many rural development initiatives, of communicating complex plans and activities to local people who are both participants in, […]
Carbon Measuring in Tanzania’s Wild West

This article was first published in Ujumbe. As this edition of Ujumbe goes to print, the Carbon Tanzania team will be trekking through the miombo forests of western Tanzania measuring trees and collecting data, a key step in the development of the Ntakata Mountains project. This project aims to protect over 300,000Ha of village forest in […]
Integrating Conservation with Development in the Greater Mahale Ecosystem

In early July I had the opportunity to spend a couple of weeks in the greater Mahale ecosystem at our newest project site, Ntakata Mountains. This landscape Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) project is being developed in partnership with The Nature Conservancy, complementing their long-term vision for the landscape. The long trip from […]
Why REDD is like a Democracy

A newspaper article was recently brought to my attention. It is a well-researched critique of a conservation project in Kenya that threatens the forced eviction of 15,000 indigenous people from their ancestral forested homeland – the Sengwer of the Cherangy Hills. If you know anything about Carbon Tanzania you would know that the mention of […]
An interview with Pili Goodo

Community Involvement in the Yaeda Valley Project – an Interview with Pili Goodo REDD in the Yaeda Valley is one of Plan Vivo’s newest and largest projects, covering over 20,000 hectares of Hazda community land in Tanzania. The Hadza are an egalitarian society and value their land highly, however getting others to understand this value […]



