NRT kicks off process to align community wildlife conservancies with laws on carbon credit

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 Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT) has launched a process to align its member community wildlife conservancies in northern Kenya with laws and regulations governing carbon credit  projects.

The 22 wildlife conservancies currently benefiting from carbon credits and listed as members of the organisation will become autonomous in managing their resources once the process is complete.

The transition involves shifting carbon credit governance from NRT to a community-driven framework under a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV).

However, for this to take effect, both NRT and the conservancies must align with laws and regulations governing carbon credit transfers.

Following amendments to the 2021 Project Implementation Agreement, the 22 conservancies from Isiolo, Samburu, Laikipia and Marsabit are set to enjoy a monopoly in the management of carbon credits.

The amendments, which must be concluded by June 30 this year, will ensure all carbon credit project activities and governance structures comply with the 2023 Climate Change Amendment Act and the 2024 Carbon Markets Regulations.

The conservancies in the four counties have already attained autonomy ahead of the deadline but are yet to transition to the SPV stage.

To facilitate this, NRT has launched the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) process across the four counties, giving stakeholders, including community representatives, civil society and project partners , an opportunity to provide input and refine the engagement approach before rollout at the community level.

More than 100 stakeholders from the sub-region participated in a four-day workshop that ended last Thursday.

The next phase will involve similar meetings across the conservancies, where communities will be taken through the process to meet requirements and subsequently provide formal consent for the registration of Special Purpose Vehicles that will independently oversee carbon projects at the conservancy level.

While urging communities to support the process, NRT CEO Vishal Shah said the transition to the new regulations will clarify roles within the governance structure, improve monitoring and reporting of project activities, and enhance community engagement and participation to boost transparency.

“The new structure will strengthen carbon governance and ensure proper monitoring and reporting for the benefit of the community,” said Mr Shah.

Northern Kenya Rangelands Carbon Project Board Chairperson Andrew Dokhole said the transition will streamline project activities through improved governance and community participation.

The move comes amid concerns over how the world’s largest soil carbon project has been run, including poor information flow, unclear agreements, alleged misuse of carbon credit funds and lack of proper documentation issues that prompted the development of the new framework.

NRT Chief Programmes Officer Tom Lalampaa said the organisation will facilitate the transition for the 22 conservancies as the project proponent while continuing to provide technical support and capacity building to their leadership.

Lalampaa added that similar support will be extended to 23 other conservancies that are yet to meet the carbon project’s minimum requirements.