Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project

In 2021, a pilot health education initiative was rolled out in 10 primary schools across the project area, which combined the gender-inclusive sport of volleyball with reproductive health education. This afterschool program reached over 1,200 students, was implemented by a team of 6 local volunteers and focused on a variety of subjects including gender-based violence, female health, STIs and HIV. A second phase of this program launched in 2022, focussed on an older cohort of children in their mid-teens.

Local community members are hired for various roles within the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ project, including many unarmed rangers for the Kasigau enforcement program. The Kasigau enforcement program provides employment opportunities for the local community members while protecting wildlife in the project zone. In the latter half of 2021, 42 additional rangers were hired after undergoing a rigorous fitness assessment and recruitment process. Most of the applicants were previously unemployed or employed through part time casual businesses (e.g. motorbike delivery services), so they are very excited about the prospect of successfully securing a full-time position with the project.

Community revenue sharing has been allocated to the renovation of 36 existing schools and building of 10 new schools across the project zone. This includes the creation of new classrooms, administration blocks, kitchens and staff houses as well as new water tanks and toilet blocks to improve access to water and sanitation. These updates have improved the learning environments, helped retain teachers and provided students with high education standards – together enhancing students’ health, behaviour, engagement, learning and growth. Additionally, 65 schools have been equipped with supplies such as books, laboratory equipment and water harvesting instruments.

Weaving baskets is a tradition in native Taita culture, a tribe of people living in the hills in South Eastern Kenya. The project supports basket weaving womens groups in the project zone, to provide women with an alternative livelihood option, connecting them to external markets, building capacity and impoving product quality of local craft groups. The Kasigau REDD+ Project provides facilities and logistical assistance, supporting over 1700 women in the weaving venture. As a result, 61 womens working groups have generated a profit of $250,000/year, a 25-fold increase since 2014.

The Locational Carbon Committees (LCCs) is the governance structure through which the communities directly allocate carbon revenue towards community driven initiatives. The LCCs have approved budget spending on various community projects, including awarding >$1.2 million in bursaries to >26,000 students and distributing thousands of facemasks and cleaning supplies for COVID protection in the Q3-Q4 of 2021 alone. This targeted expenditure has positively impacted community morale and buy-in to the REDD+ program.

The Kasigau Corridor is home to more than 20 species of bats, over 50 species of large mammals, over 300 species of birds and important populations of IUCN Red List species, including African Elephants, African Wild Dogs, Cheetahs, Grevy’s Zebras and Lions. The project has been working since 2013 on long term research and development of agricultural practices and systems to reduce Human-Wildlife Conflict, especially with elephants which regularly destroy smallholder crops that are essential to household food security and livelihoods.

To protect the vast dryland forests in the Kasigau Corridor, security teams coordinate regular aerial and foot patrols, collaborating with the local communities, the Kenya Wildlife Service and other NGOs operating in the area. This is particularly important during the fire season, to ensure a coordinated response actively prevents fire outbreaks. In addition to protecting existing forests, the project has planted nearly 100,000 tree seedlings through the Community Greenhouse Program.