Yaeda Valley

Transcription

Carbon Tanzania work in the Yaeda Valley with the Hadza tribe to protect their traditional rangelands, areas that are important wildlife corridors for threatened elephant, lion and cheetah two populations. The work is implementing combined land-use strategies and conservation programs. These are financed by selling holistic carbon credits to local and international buyers, enabling them to balance their carbon footprints.The Hadza tribe have been part of this landscape in northern Tanzania for tens of thousands of years. They are first people, and like the Bushmen the Kalahari, are amongst the few remaining hunter-gatherer peoples. Carbon Tanzania was founded by Mark Baker not only to protect the Hadza lands and their ecosystems but also to provide a model program for viable and sustainable forest management. "What Carbon Tanzania does, is measure the above ground carbon in the forest that's protected for the Hazdabe and also work with the process of deforestation to put money into the community to realise the value of this forest that the Hazdabe want to protect, but in many ways lack the ability or the means to protect it. Currently if the deforestation rate continues the Hadza are likely to lose their forest, their way of life and their land in 25 years." In the past three decades the last of the first, the one thousand or so Hadza, have faced massive change from surrounding population pressure, large-scale conversion to agriculture and land incursions by cattle herding people, and vital to these hunter-gatherers, wild game numbers have declined from illegal poaching. "A lot of the people who are coming into this area are desperate for land. The issue surrounding climate change and climate instability in this region means that more and more people are failing with agriculture." The Hadzabe have secured legal title to their land and with Carbon Tanzania, they've implemented a results-based program of verifiable conservation activities. "What carbon is doing is providing an alternative land use choice that is very compatible with the Hazdabe way of life." Carbon Tanzania works to strengthen legal land right the Hadza and enforcing land use plans at both village and government level. "The first step for the project was a land use plan that was created by the Hadza people.The plan was really made over several years and taking into account all of the environmental factors within this area and all the different people that need to utilise it to survive. What they did was designate areas, one of these areas is for farming, one areas for pastoralist or cattle, and another area that is protected for the use of Hadzabe." Marc works together with project leaders from the Hadza tribe like Pili. They organise teams to patrol the area preventing illegal tree cutting habitat destruction. "Carbon Tanzania is paying through a system of carbon credits, to protect this forest along with the Wahadzabe. We measured the carbon inside the protected area and then we link that with businesses who want to offset or balance their emissions and we put the money into the community to help the community prevent the deforestation." Tropical woodlands and forests play an important role in regulating atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, because most emissions in tropical countries are coming from deforestation and degradation, preventing habitat loss has an impact at a global level. "In simple terms, a hectare of acacia commiphora woodland, the carbon stored in these trees, is 45 flights from Europe to Tanzania return." The revenue from carbon offset purchases is used fund the Hadxa patrols. But the money is also used to provide access to healthcare and education. This project therefore provides an example how communities can create value from sustainably managing their land. "It gives people an alternative land-use choice. It gives people a chance to earn an income, but at the same time manage their lands use in a way that's beneficial to wildlife and beneficial to the environment and of course, an environment in this context is absorbing and holding carbon emissions, so is part of a global movement in mitigate climate change." Working together with Carbon Tanzania, the Hadza are an early human culture working with innovative conservation to protect forests in the modern world.