Kasigau Corridor
Description
The Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project, a pioneer in wildlife conservation, protects over 200,000 hectares of dryland forest with over 11,000 wild elephants that live in this ecosystem (2000+ of those elephants call Rukinga their permanent home). The project provides social programs that impact over 116,000 local people and provides the local community of the Kasigau Corridor region with long-term jobs that replace unsustainable sources of income such as poaching, subsistence agriculture and illegal tree harvesting. In an area where wildlife and human survival were at odds, the project has created a market-driven solution to wildlife conservation through an expansive community-led, community-based conservation model, with profound and lasting impact.
Wildlife Works engaged the community and made the case in 1998 for establishing the Rukinga Wildlife Sanctuary, covering 80,000 acres of forest. A community works project was established providing the local community with an alternative income stream to replace the need to poach wildlife and clear the forests. Locally hired rangers were hired and trained to be guardians of the wilderness and cattle owners agreed to remove the cattle to reduce conflict over resources on the land.
The foundation of the project is job creation: Through carbon sales, Wildlife Works provides the local community of the Kasigau Corridor region in Southeast Kenya with long-term jobs that replace unsustainable sources of income such as poaching, subsistence agriculture and illegal tree harvesting, including:
The area protected has now expanded to over 200,00 hectares, which will offset 1.7 million tons of CO2 emissions per year over the next 30 years. The Kasigau Corridor REDD+ project, with the dryland Acacia-Commiphora forest under its protection and its original biodiversity restored, received Gold level status by the Community and Biodiversity Standard for exceptional biodiversity and climate benefits.
The project area is home to an incredibly diverse population of wildlife including more than 20 species of bats, over 50 species of large mammals, over 300 species of birds and important populations of IUCN Red List species, including over 2,000 African Elephants, African Wild Dog, Cheetah, and Grevy’s Zebra. With a long track record of steady, high-impact work, the project is beginning to see indicators of a transition towards a durable, long-term impact for the community, forest, and wildlife.
Project details
Gender equality
Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Clean water and sanitation
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
Decent work and economic growth
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
Climate action
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
Life on land
Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
Certification
Registry Name | Registry Url | Validator DNV | Status Registered | Type Agroforestry |
First verifier DNV | Credit start Jan 01, 2010 | Credit end May 09, 2011 | Validation documentation | Standards VCS |
Carbon offsetting is the process of funding projects that reduce or remove greenhouse gas emissions to compensate for one’s own emissions, in order to achieve a net zero carbon footprint.
Each ton of carbon absorbed from the atmosphere constitutes a carbon credit or carbon offset. To make sure these credits are legit, they have to be approved by independent groups like Verra or Gold Standard. These groups make sure the project is actually making a positive impact on the environment and wouldn’t have happened without the project.
The Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program is the world’s most widely used greenhouse gas (GHG) crediting program. Verra is a nonprofit organization that operates standards in environmental and social markets, including the world’s leading carbon crediting program, the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program.
Carbon standard. This means a set of rules and criterias used to measure, report and verify the emissions reductions or removals from a specific project or activity. Carbon standards are essential in carbon markets, as they provide a transparent and consistent methodology for determining the number of carbon credits that can be issued to project developers.