Dedicated, Naturally.

Green Energy, Climate Neutral, Water

Zimbabwe:
The Kariba REDD+ projectProtecting forests and providing
sustainable livelihoods

Zimbabwer tifi

Backgroundti ona

rbon Ofto T N-Standa

fsrdTN0tin

Cacc.

ete

Ceifi
cag

TÜV NORD CERT
GmbHd02

Ve r

Key Facts

CCertification:-C

Location:
Northwestern Zimbabwe

Until the 1990s, Zimbabwe was one of the strongest economies in Africa. Today, the relatively small country
faces serious social, political and environmental challenges. Many indicators demonstrate the severity ofthe situation: 72.3 percent of the population in Zimbabwe live in poverty. While estimates of the unemployment rate vary widely, many sources claim that up to 90% of the population might be without a formal

Project type:
REDD+

employment. The environmental issues are just as alarming. In 1990, more than 57% of Zimbabwe wascovered with forest, providing a safe habitat for an abundance of wildlife. However, until 2015, the country
lost 36% of its forest cover. The main drivers of deforestation are unnatural fires caused by poachers, encroachment of agricultural land and logging activities by local communities, who mostly use the firewood
for cooking and heating purposes. It is estimated that on average a household burns the equivalent of one
small tree per day to cater for their cooking and heating.
As the pressure on forests and wildlife grows, effective forest protection becomes more and more important. But this is only one part of a viable solution. Since many people depend on the forests for their livelihood, alternative and sustainable income opportunities are equally neccessary. Without the revenues fromcarbon funding, activities to mitigate deforestation would not be implemented.

Total emission reductions:> > 6,550,000t CO2 e p.a. < <Project standard:
VCS & CCBS
Project start date:July 2011

Sustainable Development
By supporting this project you’ll
contribute to the following Sustainable
Development Goals:

The Project
The Kariba REDD+ Project is located in northwestern Zimbabwe. It lies partly along the southern shore of Lake
Kariba and spans four provinces. To reduce deforestation within the project area of approximately 1.4 million
hectares, the community-based project implements a series of activities that are designed to significantly
improve livelihoods of the locals – for example, improved agriculture, beekeeping, fuelwood plantations andfire management. In addition, a significant share of the project’s carbon income will be invested in general activities that promote and guarantee project sustainability. The project’s Community and Project Sustainability

Fund is structured to benefit local communities, specifically the poorest members of society. The fund will be
used to improve health and education in the project area with its long-term activities.

Dedicated, Naturally.

Green Energy, Climate Neutral, WaterWhile focusing on reducing greenhouse gas emissions,
all our projects also generate multiple co-benefits.
These are supportive of the United Nations Sustainable
Development Goals.

Good health and well-being

Quality education

Gender equality

Decent work and economic growth

Responsible consumption and production

Climate action

Project revenues will be bundled in a community
fund. As part of the project, local health clinics will
be financially supported to enable building improvements as well as improvement of the medical stock.
Funding is also used to subsidize salaries of healthworkers where necessary.

About 40% of the project participants are female.
Thus, the project contributes to improve gender equality in Zimbabwe.

The Kariba REDD+ Project includes a program aimed
at improving rural agricultural productivity by providing equipment and maintenance. Local farmers receive training in sustainable land use and conservation agriculture techniques.

Life on land

The project protects an area of 785,000 hectares. It
provides and conserves valuable habitat for many threatened species. Additional benefits from avoiding
deforestation include reduced soil erosion and improved water availability.

In addition to funding of healthcare institutions in theproject area, local schools will also receive support
through the project. This includes improvements on
school buildings and also a scholarship program tosubsidize pupils‘s fees, enabling them to go to school.

The project introduces alternative and sustainableways of forest use. Project initiatives comprise beekeeping, production of alternative building materials
and sustainable firewood plantations.

The project helps to avoid an estimated 6,550,000
tons of carbon emissions per year.

Green Energy, Climate Neutral, Water

Dedicated, Naturally.

Technology brief – how it works
Carbon circulates in a cycle, consisting of the atmosphere, the plant, plant litter and the soil. Carbon
dioxide drawn from the surrounding atmosphere is the main input of any plant’s photosynthesis process.
The outputs are water, oxygen and carbohydrates. The latter are built into the plant’s fibre thereby fixing
carbon in the plant‘s biomass. Ultimately, the carbon re-enters the atmosphere from decaying biomass
litter or soil respiration.
Deforestation breaks this cycle with multi-fold negative effects. First, burning biomass directly increasesthe amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Secondly, it reduces the biosphere’s absolute capacity
to fix carbon. Thirdly, the removal of plant cover accelerates the rate at which carbon fixed in soils isrespired into the atmosphere. Lastly, the erosion of soils impedes the long-term recovery of vegetation
on degraded areas. This is a particularly challenging issue in tropical climates where soils are mostly
poor in nutrients.

First Climate Markets AG
Industriestr. 1061118 Bad Vilbel - Frankfurt/Main
Germany
Phone: +49 6101 556 58 0E-Mail: cn@firstclimate.com

Project Standard
The Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) is a global standard for the validation and verification of voluntary carbon emission reductions. Emissions
reductions from VCS projects have to be real, measurable, permanent,additional, unique, transparent, and third-party verified. Assessed against the background of the total volume of emission reductions, VCS is the globally leading standard for voluntary carbon offsets.
The Climate, Community & Biodiversity (CCB) Standards were laun-

For more information on otherprojects in our portfolio please
visit our website:www.firstclimate.com

ched in 2005 to foster development of, and investment in, site-based
projects that deliver credible and significant climate, community and biodiversity benefits in an integrated, sustainable manner.
28-18-006