Set across four provinces in the southeastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Grand Katanga Reforestation Project works towards the restoration of severely deforested land to generate high-quality, durable, digitally monitored carbon credits.

The DRC boasts excellent conditions for subtropical forest: humid, with a six-month rainy season - that supports the natural broadleaf vegetation of the Miombo woodlands. These woodlands are home to a wide variety of flora and fauna, which have been under threat in recent years due to deforestation for charcoal and slash-and-burn subsistence farming, and water pollution from mining in the neighbouring cobalt and copper mining regions. About 5% of forest cover has been lost in the Grand Katanga region between 2002-2021, and sadly, less than 1% of old-growth or primary forest remains today. The Grand Katanga Reforestation project works to bring in much-needed capital flows to a country in need of climate transition financing through the sale of carbon credits. A community-driven project, it focuses on the re-establishment of traditional forests on severely degraded land with indigenous trees, including a number of endangered species. In addition to clear environmental and ecosystem benefits, the project delivers significant value to local communities: the farmers will be trained and paid to reforest their own degraded land, and then to maintain and protect the new forest. The communities will also benefit from the planting of fast-growing acacias for sustainable charcoal production on pre-determined, ring-fenced land near villages, the development of agroforestry (crops, honey production, mushrooms), and training to improve agricultural yields and mitigate the need for moving land every five years. 

These elements not only deliver meaningful livelihood improvements but also ensure that the main drivers for continued deforestation (charcoal and slash-and-burn agriculture) are reduced significantly. The community also benefits from 50% of the net carbon value generated thereafter, ensuring significant socioeconomic co-benefits from this project. Treeconomy has partnered with a project developer in Africa, to deliver high-quality, certified credits generated from tree planting across the Grand Katanga region. The DRC Government provides CFCLs, or Local Community Forest Concessions, which are community-run forestry associations set up to manage traditional community lands. These associations are authorised by provincial governments based on national legislation covering state-owned land. For more information on the Grand Katanga project and its environmental and social benefits, explore the project in our marketplace.