For 40,000 years, the Yaeda Valley has been the home of Hadza hunter-gatherers and more recently Datooga pastoralists. But their traditional ways of life were threatened by shifting agriculture and habitat conversion. In response to these threats, the Yaeda-Eyasi Landscape project was established. Today, it protects 110,500 hectares of forest in northern Tanzania.
In the past, deforestation in the Yaeda-Eyasi Landscape was driven by migrant farmers looking for agricultural land. Viewing the forests as unused, they illegally encroached upon the land and systematically converted the forests to farmland.
This changing land use threatens forests, biodiversity and the very existence of the Hadza and Datooga people. Indeed, over a 50-year period the Hadza have lost 90 percent of their ancestral rangelands to migrating pastoralists and agriculturalists. As forests are cleared, the valuable carbon stored in these trees is released, contributing to the rising levels of global CO2 emissions.
To safeguard these valuable forests and the traditional lifestyles of the Hadza and Datooga, the carbon project was established in 2011 following extensive free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) procedures.
The community recruits Village Game Scouts (VGSs) to carry out patrols of the conservation area to prevent land incursions and deforestation.
Forest protection activities generate high-quality carbon credits that are sold to businesses working toward net-zero targets. The revenue generated from the sale of the carbon credits flows directly to forest communities in Tanzania.
Indigenous land rights form the very foundations of the Yaeda-Eyasi Landscape project. The Hadza and Datooga communities hold a community based Certificate of Customary Right of Occupancy (CCRO). The CCRO gives the Hadza and Datooga ownership of the resources in their territory and the legal right to protect against encroachment.
The Yaeda-Eyasi Landscape project spans a critical wildlife corridor that connects the Yaeda Valley to the Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area.
One example of the project’s success is the recovery of the giraffe population in the project area – over a five-year period in which the continent was experiencing an overall decline in this iconic species, the monitoring teams recorded an increase in giraffe numbers year on year.
Carbon revenue earned from the sale of carbon credits generated by measurable avoidance of deforestation pays for forest protection activities, provides education and health services, and supports local development initiatives.
The Yaeda-Eyasi Landscape project is verified by Plan Vivo. In 2019, the project was awarded the Equator Prize in recognition of its outstanding community-led efforts to support livelihoods through conservation initiatives.
To ensure our projects are designed with the highest standards of quality and integrity, we work with leading forest carbon scientists to set our methodologies and project baselines. As such, we are confident that the Yaeda-Eyasi Landscape project is accurately and appropriately verified in accordance with the latest climate science. However, we recognise (and support) the ongoing developments of these standards and are committed to improving our processes in the coming years.
Before the Yaeda-Eyasi Landscape project, the deforestation rate across the area was above the national average due to the rising prevalence of forest clearance for agricultural land. With legal title over their land and carbon revenue to fund forest protection activities, the communities are able to enforce their land use plans. These land use plans determine where agriculture can be practised and where forests are to be protected leading to a reduction in Tanzania’s overall deforestation rate while addressing the underlying drivers of deforestation in the region.
The Yaeda-Eyasi Landscape project issues credits conservatively, allocating the maximum percentage of generated credits to a non-permanence buffer pool. This is to safeguard against any potential, future loss of forests from the project area.
In a broader sense, the integration of a 30-year forest management scheme into the local community and district planning systems, structures and socio-economic fabric builds a more general permanence to the protection of natural resources for community benefits.
Under the ancient baobab tree the celebration begins. The Hadza hunter-gatherers are joined by the District Commissioner of Mbulu, James Kheri, who is officiating the buying back of land that once belonged to the Hadza. Less than 1000 Hadza still live a traditional, semi nomadic life in their ancestral rangelands
The Hadza Hunter-gatherers of Yaeda Chini, Domanga and Mongo wa Mono villages have been powerful Indigenous voices protecting forests on their ancestral lands for decades. They have applied Carbon Tanzania’s community-led approach to REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) to protect their biodiverse and carbon rich forests and
Linking the Yaeda Valley to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Carbon Tanzania has recently begun taking the first steps in the design and development of the expansion to the award-winning Yaeda Valley Project. This will amplify Carbon Tanzania’s proven innovative conservation solution across a culturally and ecologically important landscape that incorporates 12 villages and links the Yaeda
Under the ancient baobab tree the celebration begins. The Hadza hunter-gatherers are joined by the District Commissioner of Mbulu, James Kheri, who is officiating the buying back of land that once belonged to the Hadza. Less than 1000 Hadza still live a traditional, semi nomadic life in their ancestral rangelands
The Hadza Hunter-gatherers of Yaeda Chini, Domanga and Mongo wa Mono villages have been powerful Indigenous voices protecting forests on their ancestral lands for decades. They have applied Carbon Tanzania’s community-led approach to REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) to protect their biodiverse and carbon rich forests and
Linking the Yaeda Valley to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Carbon Tanzania has recently begun taking the first steps in the design and development of the expansion to the award-winning Yaeda Valley Project. This will amplify Carbon Tanzania’s proven innovative conservation solution across a culturally and ecologically important landscape that incorporates 12 villages and links the Yaeda
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Image credits: Carbon Tanzania/Roshni Lodhia/Paul Joyson-Hicks.
Director of Operations
David is a dedicated conservationist with both an excellent academic record and extensive field experience in designing and implementing practical conservation and agricultural project work. At Carbon Tanzania, he oversees the highly technical aspects of project operations, while also using his interpersonal and language skills to communicate the many and complex details of our projects to our partner communities and field collaborators.
Director of Finance
Alpha is a Certified Public Accountant with a degree in accountancy and finance. Alpha is responsible for overseeing all the finance and accounting systems both within the company and across our projects. Alpha’s work with the communities also ensures that they are able to plan the financial management and implement best practices in the allocation of the revenues from their successful natural resource protection activities.
Co-founder
Marc oversees project operations, often in the field as well as from the Arusha base, and leads the search to find and develop new areas where our approach can deliver lasting results. As a co-founder of Carbon Tanzania, maintaining a connection with the landscapes in which Carbon Tanzania works is critical to Marc.
Co-founder
After an established career as one of East Africa’s leading professional outdoor, trekking and wildlife guides, Jo co-founded Carbon Tanzania. Jo’s focus is to ensure business sustainability through financial management and sales, and to ensure that the company has the financial capacity to scale when opportunities arise.
