INVESTING IN TREES AND LANDSCAPE ... - PROFOR

Forest and Tea-Growing Areas in Western Kenya
Source: UNEP/GRID-Arendal 2009.
Large areas of eco-certified tea plantations would contribute significantly to achieving goals of landscape,
watershed, and ecosystem conservation; many practices also reduce greenhouse gas emissions and
sequester carbon, thus mitigating climate change. Public sector agencies are undertaking programs
of protected area management and watershed protection within and adjacent to these landscapes.
According to the Kericho District Plan (National Coordination Agency for Population and Development
2005), environmental goals include reducing the use of wood and fuel, and increasing afforestation.
Activities will include the establishment of tree nurseries, education on how to save energy, and mobilizing
communities to plant trees. The activities will be led by public sector agencies such as the Ministry of
Agriculture and local authorities. Restoration activities are supported by the Kenya Forest Bill, which
requires riparian forest to 50 meters from the edge of rivers and recognizes the importance of community
participation in natural resource management. Private tea grower and public efforts are not yet well
coordinated, but opportunities for synergy seem significant.
Source: Rainforest Alliance.
the atmosphere is concerned, the emission of a carbon atom reduced from a power plant in China
is equivalent to one sequestered by a tree in Uganda. Land use carbon offsets have not yet been
accepted in regulated greenhouse gas offset markets, but the voluntary market is growing, as is
the market for agricultural carbon offsets (Shames and Scherr 2010). The challenge for land-based
carbon projects in Africa is that to provide the scale of offset credits required to meet the demands
of international buyers, sequestration must be done on a fairly large scale. The minimum estimated
62 INVESTING IN TREES AND LANDSCAPE RESTORATION IN AFRICA