What is a REDD+ Carbon Project? It is protecting a forest from being destroyed! A REDD+ Carbon Project is making a forest more valuable alive than chopped down. But how – By increasing the forests economic value by keeping them alive rather than destroyed. This is done through a stream of revenues paid directly to those communities living near the forest, only if the forest is protected.

It works in a relatively simple way:
1. The amount of carbon stored in the forest is calculated
2. The value is audited by special agencies
3. And carbon credits are issued
4. Auditors constantly monitor the status of the forest
5. The verified credits can be sold in the volunteer market
for those of us sensitive to climate change and global warming.

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.