Carbon Offsets in Tanzania

One of the last hunter-gatherer communities on the continent is embracing 21st-century environmentalism deep in the Rift Valley of East Africa, close to some of the oldest human remains ever discovered. The Hadza people, who are referred to as "the last archers of Africa," are utilizing the money from the sale of carbon credits obtained from protecting their woods to hire their children as scouts to deter forest vandals.

Around 1,300 Hadza and members of the cattle-herding tribes with whom they share the Yaeda Valley in northern Tanzania started receiving the first payments of what will be close to half a million dollars annually from a local social enterprise, Carbon Tanzania, for protecting woodland grazing and hunting grounds across an area larger than New York City this March.

The project will dramatically expand a current carbon-offsetting operation that has been in place for ten years on Hadza property, north to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, one of Africa's most famous wildlife refuges. But in contrast to the Ngorongoro reserve, which was partly established by displacing locals, this project will honor the hunting Hadza's abilities as stewards of the forests and friends of their species.

Many think that this type of community-based conservation can, in addition to helping the environment, open up new avenues for safeguarding Africa's untamed areas and the people and species that depend on them. And they think it might serve as a template for carbon offset initiatives worldwide, not just in Africa.

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