Advancing REDD in the Kollo hills forests (ARKFor) : progress, challenges, lessons and opportunities

Abstract

ARKFor is a three-year project operating in Kondoa district and is one of pilot REDD readiness projects in Tanzania mainly funded by the people of Norway. The project is administered by the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) as part of its integrated climate change mitigation program in Africa. While most of other pilot REDD projects in Tanzania are currently focusing merely on village land forest areas, ARKFor is targeting continuous village forest areas and government forest reserves (19,924 ha) hence suggesting additional work on devising a win-win benefit sharing agreement between the government and local communities. When these forests are combined with the reference and leakage belt, the total project area reaches 71,632 ha and 21 villages are involved. The project has a two-fold goal of mitigating climate change and improving livelihoods of forest-adjacent communities, while the purpose is to prepare the target communities to enter carbon trading successfully. Results so far include:- establishment of: present carbon stocks in the project area (1,596,903 tCO2 of which 59.24% are in target forests and the rest are in reference and leakage belt); mean annual deforestation rate (0.46%) and forest degradation rate (5.2%); annual CO2 emissions saved from avoided deforestation and forest degradation (12,500 tCO2); completion of second editions of Project Documents (PDs) under Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standards (CCB) and Voluntary Carbon Standards (VCS); capacity building on REDD and land and forest management (135 men and 81 women trained); land use planning completed in 10 villages; 2nd edition of Joint Forest Management Plan (JFM) approved by target villages; 173 farmers each with one-acre demonstration farm trained on improved farming practices of which 60 farms were assessed and found to increase yield by eight times hence earning them extra US$24,000; learning and networking promoted through participation in climate change forums and media. Some site specific challenges and lessons are: difficulties in understanding REDD concepts and mechanisms as they are new and too scientific or technical for many stakeholders to understand quickly; unexpected increase in project scope; lack of immediate feasible means and ways for poor forest depended communities to accommodate drivers of deforestation; uncertainties of future tangible benefits from REDD; weak enforcement of land tenure among rural communities; lack of benefit sharing mechanism under JFM arrangement; vertical communication within government need to be strengthened; and “bad” memories on impacts of past or on-going conservation projects or programs. Opportunities include: stabilizing food security; increased water for socio-economic activities in lowland area; diversification of livelihood activities in the area; improved land tenure and benefit sharing among poor communities.