Valuing landscapes through ecosystem services - REDD as a mechanism to reduce land use change

Session: This presentation by Carbon Tanzania looks at valuing ecosystem services in Tanzania, how this is done by measuring carbon content, understanding land use change and how Carbon Tanzania links these landscapes to the carbon markets, providing significant income to communities in the Yaeda Valley, Mbulu District. Carbon Tanzania is in the business of forest conservation, working with communities and governments to realize the economic value of their forests and financing this work through the sale of carbon offsets. Carbon Tanzania’s vision is that forest communities’ value their environment because of the direct and global benefits they derive from it and the global community invests in intact tropical ecosystems that are a cornerstone of global ecological health.

Biographical information: Marc Baker, the founder and director of Carbon Tanzania studied conservation biology at Nottingham in England. He was then employed by the United Nations Development Program to study cross-border bio-diversity in East Africa. In Zanzibar he conducted surveys of Jizani Forest, home to the rare Red Colobus monkey, to support its registration as a National Park. He has published academic reports and is an environmental consultant In 2007 Marc set up Tanzania’s first carbon offset project, ensuring that only indigenous trees are planted and that communities are encouraged to protect their environment. Marc helps communities find ways to benefit from carbon offset projects in the ways that they see fit, creating incentives for natural forest conservation at the grassroots level. Negotiating these issues at local level requires great patience and skill. David Beroff is the operations manager.