*Estimated carbon sequestration is 20 kg of CO2e per tree accumulated over five years, based on low estimates of dry and humid tropical growth rates from global restoration databases.
Actual carbon impact of each Priceless Planet Coalition restoration project will be assessed after five years based on data collected throughout the monitoring process.
Forest and landscape restoration is a key pillar within Kenya’s Nationally Determined Contributions to the Paris Agreement. As such, this project will be a major contributor to Kenya’s efforts to curb its emissions and capture carbon in its forests and agroforestry landscapes.
The resulting impact on local communities will be significant. Reforesting these important catchment areas can help to store more water within the soils, regulating its release into rivers and streams. The tree roots will also bind the soil along the river buffers, helping improve water quality downstream. Food production will be improved as well. This catchment restoration will create reliable sources of water, and the planting of a mix of high-value fruit trees will create crops that can be consumed locally and sold to markets.
Located inland within Kenya’s semi-arid ecozone, the Makuli Nazaui landscape experiences severe droughts throughout the year. This leaves only two rainy seasons before which major tree planting activities can take place. Largely hilly with a mix of rocky and sandy soils, there are two larger hills/mountains where the Makuli and Nzaui forests reside (parts of which are designated as officially protected areas).
The lower lands in between the forested hills are dominated by cropland with the flattest and driest areas being used primarily for grazing livestock.
Tree planting
The planting of seedlings over an area with little or no forest canopy to meet specific goals.
Enrichment planting
The strategic reestablishment of key tree species in a forest that is ecologically degraded due to lack of certain species, without which the forest is unable to naturally sustain itself.
Assisted natural regeneration
The exclusion of threats (i.e. grazing, fire, invasive plants) that had previously prevented the natural regrowth of a forested area from seeds already present in the soil, or from natural seed dispersal from nearby trees. This does not include any active tree planting.
Agroforestry
The intentional mixing and cultivation of woody perennial species (trees, shrubs, bamboos) alongside agricultural crops in a way that improves the agricultural productivity and ecological function of a site.