IN the peak afternoon sun, a pick-up truck rumbles through the dirt-track flanked on either side by rolling hills of neatly lined pine trees as far as the eye can see. At a clearing roughly in the middle of nowhere, the truck whirrs to a halt, raising a cloud of dust.
It is the only irritant to the fresh smell of pine. This is not a temperate coniferous forest in North America. It is the heart of equatorial Africa, Uganda. And these alien, fast-growing, Caribbean pines are gaining popularity as the solution to reforest degraded land.
“We have reached the carbon project area,” says Lemmy Kasimbazi, the forest supervisor, National Forestry Authority (NFA). A nondescript signboard hanging on a shrub reads, “RECPA Carbon Project Area — funded by World Bank”.
NFA is a government body partnering with the World Bank to establish 2,137 hectares of pine forests that will earn credits under United Nation’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Each saleable certified emission reduction (CER) credit equals a tonne of carbon dioxide. Any developed nation, in turn, can buy the carbon credits to reduce its pollution in line with Kyoto targets.
The Nile Basin Reforestation project is the first such project in Africa to receive approval to trade in the CDM market.
Afforestation and reforestation projects receive approval in the CDM hierarchy after great scrutiny by UN officials. There are only eight of them worldwide that were approved.
The project is in Rwoho Central Forest Reserve, a gazetted forest area in south-western Uganda. Of the 2,137 hectares, 17% will be managed by a local group, the Rwoho Environmental Conservation and Protection Association (RECPA). So far, the group has planted trees on 60 hectares.
Community conundrum In the centre of a small village in Rwoho, people crowd into a tiny room whose walls are covered with photographs, charts and a vision statement that reads: “Towards a sustainable healthy, and environmental healthy community.” The room, overlooking the plantations, is the headquarters of RECPA, which was formed in 2003. Jerome Byesigwa, the chairman of RECPA says: “You must have planted trees on your land to be a member.”
So far, they have not got any carbon money, but they have no doubt it is on its way. “Recently, the accountant of World Bank visited us and promised that the money will come as soon as possible,” he says. RECPA has 270 members, and the annual subscription is under $3 (sh5,000), with a one-time initial fee of nearly $5.50 (sh10,000). For the carbon project, they have to pay an additional $53 (sh100,000) and can own six such shares. NFA provides free seedlings and land and the group members manage all operations in the 60 hectares.
The members of RECPA are somewhat lucky. They can bank on a new commodity — pine trees. Their neighbours in surrounding villages are, however, less fortunate. These communities mainly have banana plantations and rear goats and cattle.
The carbon project is on ‘degraded grasslands’, which restricts grazing and does not allow inter-cropping. The communities can collect firewood twice a week, collect tree thinnings four to five years after planting, keep bees and so on. But their access to the forest is now limited and the economic pressures of day-to-day living are telling.
Johnson Tiboruihameg, a young man at a nearby trading centre, said since 2006 when the carbon blocks were planted, he cannot graze his animals and has to travel far to engage in casual labour on other people’s farms.” Tiboruihameg is not unhappy with joining RECPA, but cannot afford the nominal fees to belong to the group. “They are doing a good thing. I would join them if I had the money,” he says.
Deforestation is a real issue and any help to conserve their forests is seen as welcome. The sheer dependence on the forests for firewood, building materials, timber and herbs, makes it even more significant for the livelihood of the burgeoning population. At the swanky World Bank office in Kampala, Uganda, Martin Fodor, the senior environment specialist reasons: “The locals will get what they need from pine forests... We cannot have more tropical forests disappear.”
Realistic optimism The carbon credit earnings have not yet started coming in, and the projections seem modest. But the community could not be more aware of the challenges. “After all that investment, you cannot buy a kilo of sugar for a decade from that money. We dig deep in our pockets, but it is for the long-run,” says Amanyire Deo, the project co-ordinator.
The restriction of the activity around may also have serious repercussions. “The pastoral community is hampered, and we hope the children won’t end up malnourished without enough milk,” he says.
The community is aware of the need to stop deforesting. Uganda has a high deforestation rate of 2.7% per annum and has only a few thousand hectares under sustainable forest plantation. However, the economic appeal of carbon projects is a greater lure than environment conservation.
“Convincing the community is a challenge. They are always thinking of quick returns,” Amanyire says.
Not all communities are organised like RECPA, where it was easy to implement the carbon project. Yet the CDM projects are insistent that local communities should be a significant beneficiary of forest projects.
Notwithstanding, two more environmental groups have recently evinced interest to NFA to participate in collaborative forest management.
Even though the Nile Basin Reforestation Project is well-defined, benefit-sharing with the community is unclear.
Carbon trading itself is an amorphous idea. The other funding is channelised through the BioCarbon Fund. It is operated by International Bank of Reconstruction and Development with other participants. The government of Italy has also enlisted as a voluntary participant. The fund has the first right to buy most of the credits. It is also extendable to as long as 60 years. Initially, World Bank gave NFA a grant of $300,000 (sh600m), that it used to strengthen its seed centres, nurseries, and upgrade technology.
A fine balance The World Bank is still verifying parts of the Nile Basin Reforestation project and NFA believes all the five blocks will be registered under CDM this year. “The money will be based on the verified report and NFA and World Bank have agreed on an annual payment,” says Xavier Mugumya, the coordinator for climate change, NFA.
In general terms, one hectare of trees could yield about 300 tonnes of CO2 equivalent over 20 years but in specific terms, the reductions depend on the CDM projects. According to the World Bank, this project is expected to sequester around 0.11 Mt of CO2 equivalent by 2012 and around 0.29 Mt CO2 equivalent by 2017. Quantifying the reduced emissions is difficult for forestry projects. About 1,111 trees are planted per hectare, but there could be loss, say, through fires. And though communities can access tree thinnings for firewood, the yield would remain as modelled, says Mugumya.
Also, according to current rules, carbon credits from forests are not in demand as the carbon dioxide cannot be locked into the soil and wood permanently. Someday, the trees will have to be harvested. And the credits need to be replaced with non-forest credits.
Also, carbon credits are priced low at an average of $4 (sh7,000) a tonne of CO2 equivalent, posing additional challenges for forestry projects. “The terms of trade in the carbon market should be more level,” says Buyinza Mukadasi, an associate professor, Faculty of Forestry, Makerere University. It is tough to pinpoint the communities’ gains from the sale of carbon credits.
But Uganda, as a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, is obligated to comply with the emission reduction rules. There is great pressure for agricultural land, so it is twice as hard to protect tree cover. Yet, such CDM projects bring in the much required money for forest conservation. And communities have great income expectations from them. “Uganda sees these proposals as an opportunity,” says Paul Isabirye, the principal meteorologist, climate change unit, ministry of water and environment.
The green goblin The environmental concerns are palpable. Eucalyptus and pine are exotic species. There is a raging debate on how ecologically suitable they are. They mature in 20 years as against native trees like mahogany that take 70 years.
“Non-native species deplete water and do not support agro-forestry or biodiversity,” protests Frank Muzamali, the executive director of National Association of Professional Environmentalists.
The World Bank reasons that maximum amount of carbon can be locked into pure forests. “It is the only way to protect natural forests,” Fodor says.
Finally, this is beyond business. This is nature. Forest fires are a real threat especially in the dry season. The carbon pricing has been risk-reduced by 25% for this, but there is simply no guarantee against a complete wipe-out. “Compensation and crop insurance... we have not even discussed it with the community,” Moses Kabaireho, the sector manager, Bugamba, NFA, says.
It will be 20 years before the first full harvest. Yet, everybody is more eager than not. Outside the RECPA office, 75-year-old Alanzio Gakibayo points to his trees and says, “These are for my grandchildren. I won't be there to cut them down.” He smiles smugly at the prospects of a healthy future. But God forbid, if there is a fire, what next?
This story was produced with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
