CHYULU HILLS REDD+ CARBON PROJECT
The REDD+ mechanism has been introduced by the United Nations as a climate change mitigation strategy. The goal of a REDD+ project is to prevent deforestation and forest degradation by active forest protection and provide alternative livelihoods for local communities living in and around the forest area.
VERRA ISSUES 1 BILLIONTH CARBON CREDIT TO CHRP: VERRA.ORG
ARTICLE BY REDD ADVISOR, CHRISTOPHER TUITE: REDD+ in the Green Hills of Africa
THE CHYULU HILLS
The Chyulu Hills sit close to Kenya’s southern border with Tanzania nestled in front of Mount Kilimanjaro,which towers over this iconic African landscape. The hills themselves, like the great mountain, are the result of the violent volcanic history of this region. They gently rise nearly 4000 ft above the surrounding dry plains and savannah, just high enough to capture the clouds and provide conditions for the growth of a lush tropical montane cloud forest along its ridge tops. The landscape forms a critical “bridge”, linking together two of Kenya’s most important wildlife areas, the greater Tsavo Ecosystem and Amboseli Ecosystem. This area is home to Kenya’s largest surviving population of elephants and one of its foremost large-scale wildlife and wilderness areas. The Chyulu Hills REDD+ Project aims to protect the Chyulu Hills landscape, its forests, woodlands, savannahs, wetlands and springs, and its wild populations of Africa’s best known animals – lions, cheetahs, wild dogs, rhinos, elephants, and various antelopes.
