135
6
6.4 The Case of a REDD Project in Tanzania
In 2008, Prime Minister Stoltenberg and the Minister for Environment and
Development, Erik Solheim, visited Tanzania and announced that Norway had
granted 500 million NOK (50 million US dollars) over the next 5 years to REDD
activities in the country. This decision was surprising, since an evaluation report
and a detailed auditing in 2006–2007 had revealed extensive corruption and nonfulfilment of requirements of Norwegian environmental assistance to Tanzania
during 1994–2006 (Jansen 2009, 2014).
Under this new climate funding to Tanzania, nine pilot projects were facilitated
by international and national NGOs. The project in Kondoa that we studied, was
implemented by the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF). At the start of the project, there were 21 villages on the hill ridge that constituted the project area where
about 62,000 inhabitants were living of whom 28% were estimated to live in deep
poverty with an income of less than one dollar a day. According to assessments by
Mung’ong’o et al. (2011), a large part of the rest of the population can also be
considered to be poor. Nineteen of the villages participated in the project, while the
village assemblies in two villages decided not to take part, although they also experienced impacts of increased restrictions on forest resources. In addition to the
villages adjacent to two large forest reserves, some other villages participated in the
project due to their possession of smaller village forests (. Fig. 6.2).
According to the project proposal and the contract with the Norwegian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the goal of the REDD project in Kondoa was to contribute to poverty reduction and climate change mitigation, and the purpose was to
prepare for participation in carbon markets.
The main focus in the project was to implement a strict regime of conservation
of the forests of the Kondoa-Irangi Hills as a measure to mitigate climate change.
Restrictions on land use concerned activities such as grazing, collection of dry
branches for firewood used for cooking, cutting of trees for timber and production
of charcoal. AWF chose this particular hill ridge because it constitutes the water
catchment area for the river Tarangire, which is the water source for the abundant
wildlife in and around Tarangire National Park. For AWF, the REDD pilot project, through establishing a healthy and well managed forest, was seen as an opportunity to secure stable water supplies during the whole year for the wildlife down
on the plain below the forest.
In order to compensate people for their immediate losses of access to forest
resources and instead contribute to the goal of poverty reduction, the project aimed
to provide livelihood alternatives. An agricultural component was from an early
stage of the project presented as particularly successful and a key to the overall success of the project. Other project attempts to strengthen livelihood activities might
be positive in themselves, but the implementation and associated benefits turned out
to be limited. This was the case with tree planting, sustainable production of bricks
and charcoal, as well as the introduction of more energy-effective cooking stoves.
As a long-term income source for the villages in the project area, AWF tried to
obtain certification for selling carbon credits in carbon markets (see the presentation later in this chapter about carbon credits and carbon markets). People were
6.4 · The Case of a REDD Project in Tanzania
6
6.4 The Case of a REDD Project in Tanzania
In 2008, Prime Minister Stoltenberg and the Minister for Environment and
Development, Erik Solheim, visited Tanzania and announced that Norway had
granted 500 million NOK (50 million US dollars) over the next 5 years to REDD
activities in the country. This decision was surprising, since an evaluation report
and a detailed auditing in 2006–2007 had revealed extensive corruption and nonfulfilment of requirements of Norwegian environmental assistance to Tanzania
during 1994–2006 (Jansen 2009, 2014).
Under this new climate funding to Tanzania, nine pilot projects were facilitated
by international and national NGOs. The project in Kondoa that we studied, was
implemented by the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF). At the start of the project, there were 21 villages on the hill ridge that constituted the project area where
about 62,000 inhabitants were living of whom 28% were estimated to live in deep
poverty with an income of less than one dollar a day. According to assessments by
Mung’ong’o et al. (2011), a large part of the rest of the population can also be
considered to be poor. Nineteen of the villages participated in the project, while the
village assemblies in two villages decided not to take part, although they also experienced impacts of increased restrictions on forest resources. In addition to the
villages adjacent to two large forest reserves, some other villages participated in the
project due to their possession of smaller village forests (. Fig. 6.2).
According to the project proposal and the contract with the Norwegian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the goal of the REDD project in Kondoa was to contribute to poverty reduction and climate change mitigation, and the purpose was to
prepare for participation in carbon markets.
The main focus in the project was to implement a strict regime of conservation
of the forests of the Kondoa-Irangi Hills as a measure to mitigate climate change.
Restrictions on land use concerned activities such as grazing, collection of dry
branches for firewood used for cooking, cutting of trees for timber and production
of charcoal. AWF chose this particular hill ridge because it constitutes the water
catchment area for the river Tarangire, which is the water source for the abundant
wildlife in and around Tarangire National Park. For AWF, the REDD pilot project, through establishing a healthy and well managed forest, was seen as an opportunity to secure stable water supplies during the whole year for the wildlife down
on the plain below the forest.
In order to compensate people for their immediate losses of access to forest
resources and instead contribute to the goal of poverty reduction, the project aimed
to provide livelihood alternatives. An agricultural component was from an early
stage of the project presented as particularly successful and a key to the overall success of the project. Other project attempts to strengthen livelihood activities might
be positive in themselves, but the implementation and associated benefits turned out
to be limited. This was the case with tree planting, sustainable production of bricks
and charcoal, as well as the introduction of more energy-effective cooking stoves.
As a long-term income source for the villages in the project area, AWF tried to
obtain certification for selling carbon credits in carbon markets (see the presentation later in this chapter about carbon credits and carbon markets). People were
6.4 · The Case of a REDD Project in Tanzania