TFS forests attract Asian, European carbon investors

**DODOMA: **A total of 46 investors from different parts of the world have shown interest in collaborating with Tanzania Forest Services (TFS) to establish carbon credit projects in forests and water sources managed by the agency.

TFS senior assistant conservation commissioner and section manager for seed biology, Mr Hansen Mashimba, disclosed the figure to the Daily News in Dodoma during an exclusive interview, adding that applications for the establishment of the projects had been received and were at different stages of processing.

Asked where the prospective investors were coming from, the manager said they were from Europe and Asia and were teaming up with local investors to seize carbon credit opportunities in Tanzania’s forests, which have not been utilised effectively despite their pivotal role in absorbing large amounts of carbon amid the ongoing global fight against climate change.

To foster carbon projects, Mr Mashimba said TFS Conservation Commissioner Prof Dos Santos Silayo had formed a special task force to deal with the matter.

“The committee meets to receive views and ideas from stakeholders who want to establish carbon projects and discuss strategies for securing capital and protecting forests,” he said.

He said TFS had also established a special desk to ensure that all carbon trading activities and projects received by the agency were processed promptly and that all office-related procedures were completed as quickly as possible.

“This is part of its preparedness, specifically because there is already a special desk with a technical team and technical staff who are on standby,” he said.

Explaining further, the official said any investor who came to the agency was received and served promptly and efficiently, in accordance with the established procedures, without discouraging any prospective investor interested in carbon credit projects.

The manager added that TFS had recognised the need to reduce bureaucracy for investors. Therefore, when carbon-related project dossiers were received at the registry, they were channelled to a team chaired by a designated official, which sat with its members to scrutinise and discuss the applications before providing feedback to the applicants.

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Mr Mashimba said his office was closely collaborating with the National Carbon Monitoring Centre (NCMC), the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, the Vice-President’s Office – Environment and other institutions dealing with conservation to ensure that all activities related to carbon trading were not stalled.

TFS manages 465 forest reserves covering 14,256,133.03 hectares, 26 natural forest reserves covering 996,217.58 hectares, mangrove forests covering 158,100 hectares and 26 tree plantations covering 599,564 hectares, a situation that requires strong protection and management systems.

According to Mr Mashimba, carbon credit projects do not take away land from communities or prevent people from accessing services in forests, as investors will only have rights to the carbon.

“This is an opportunity because it increases funding for conservation, community development and implementation of national climate goals,” he said.

Failure to seize the opportunity, the manager added, would mean that the country’s forests would continue absorbing carbon without Tanzania benefiting from the resource in terms of revenues and investments.

The carbon initiative is part of the Paris Agreement, which Tanzania ratified and subsequently submitted its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), committing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30–35 percent by 2030.

Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement establishes the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM), a centralised, UN-run global carbon market through which public and private entities can generate and trade verified carbon credits.

Carbon trading is an initiative that allows the buying and selling of carbon credits, with the primary aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The main objectives of the initiative are to mitigate climate change impacts, environmental conservation and the strengthening of the economy, social welfare, policy frameworks, technology and innovation.

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