Tanzania wins UN prize for carbon-offset project

A community of hunter-gatherers in Tanzania are the winners of the 2019 Equator Prize for developing a carbon-offset project that enabled them to restore 90 percent of their land that had been overrun by livestock and farmers.

The Hadza indigenous ethnic group, living in the north-central part of the country, received the award on Tuesday at the United Nations' headquarters in New York.

The community has no concept of owning land in the modern sense, hence they had little legal defense against encroachment by migrant farmers or cattle herders who decimated the wildlife-rich savanna woodland.

Nevertheless, they adapted a legal tool to assert their community's title to 23,00 hectares of their territory by entering into commercial agreements to earn money from it.

In partnership with Carbon Tanzania, a social enterprise working to reframe how people earn value from natural environments, the Hadza launched the Yaeda Valley Project to trade carbon offsets from woodlands and forests covering their territory. So far, the program has earned the community more than $300,000.

While receiving the award, Ezekiel Phillipo, a representative of the Hadza community, expressed gratitude that his people were able to earn a living through protecting the forests and wild animals.

"We in the Hadza community always protect our environment because that is how we survive, so even if this carbon offset program was not existing, we would still be doing that," he said.

"Through the carbon revenues, we are able to do many things that we could not afford, like sending our children to university, paying hospital bills, and paying salaries to game scouts to patrol our forests."

This year, the community sent 12 members for training as forest rangers, supported 25 students and provided hospital treatment for 23 individuals.

Additionally, the carbon revenues were used to bring field clinics to the community through the regional health department to diagnose and treat tuberculosis and common eye disorders among other sicknesses.

The project relies on people establishing governance structures and practical activities to protect their traditional forest lands that then generate carbon credits. The credit are sold to companies and individuals who wish to offset their carbon impacts.

The Hadza project is one of the several projects operated by Carbon Tanzania. All focus on supporting communities to obtain land rights or resource rights to enable them to earn revenues from ecosystem services or environmental protection.

edithmutethya@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 09/26/2019 page11)