Combining Community Customary Land Rights with Carbon Offset Sales.

The Ujamaa Community Resource Team (UCRT), with financial and technical support from the Dorobo Fund for Tanzania (DF), The Nature Conservancy, Wildlife Conservation Society, and Maliasili Initiatives, has helped hunter-gatherer and pastoralist communities in the northern rangelands secure rights to their land by obtaining Certificates of Customary Right of Occupancy (CCRO) – a different, yet effective approach for securing communal land rights. So far, UCRT has helped communities obtain seven CCROs across northern Tanzania. UCRT has teamed up with Carbon Tanzania, which is paying these same hunter-gatherers to effectively reinforce their existing conservation regulations. The project pays the community to protect their forests, using revenue generated from the sale of carbon offsets. So far, the community has earned more than USD $50,000 and it is expected that it will earn an annual income between $32,000 – 36,000. Over the next 20 years the project is estimated to help avoid 268,939 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

Communities and Tourism Companies Support Livestock and Wildlife Grazing Together

The expansive Simanjiro plains, an area just east of Tarangire National Park, are critical grazing areas for both domestic livestock and wildlife in the wet season. A consortium of tourism companies began working with Terrat village in 2005, followed by Sukuro village in 2009, to protect these areas through two voluntary land easements totaling 23,000 hectares. As set out in the agreement, livestock and wildlife can graze on the land, but farming, permanent settlements, charcoal production and illegal hunting are not permitted. The agreements have been a successful and cost-effective model so far, with the communities earning an income to maintain existing land use management practices that integrate livestock and wildlife, while tourism companies benefit from ongoing and sustained wildlife conservation.

Prevention of Human-Wildlife Conflict brings Benefits to Communities

The Tanzania People & Wildlife Fund (TPW) and Honeyguide (HG) are helping prevent the destruction of valuable livestock and farmland by wildlife, such as lions and elephants. Fortified livestock corrals known as “Living Walls” are installed to keep predators out of homesteads, while elephant deterrent kits and teams keep elephants and ungulates off crop land. Teams of human-wildlife conflict prevention officers are trained to work in their communities, which is supporting both people and wild animals alike. To date, TPW has installed over 500 “Living Walls,” which protect 100,000 head of livestock with a 99.9% success rate and benefit more than 10,000 Maasai people whose livelihoods are dependent on these animals.

This intervention also protects the lives of approximately 100 lions per year by reducing conflict with people. At the same time, HG has led village game scout teams and community volunteers to reduce crop damage by up to 70% on farms adjacent to conservation areas. Recently, several supported farmers have become key informants against wildlife poachers. Now TPW and HG are partnering to bring their conflict-prevention mechanisms to new communities in the critical transboundary landscapes along the Tanzania-Kenya border.