Newswise — In a sparsely furnished office in Kajiado, Kenya, large sheets of white paper cover nearly an entire wall. Quick illustrations, mind maps, color-coded charts, and task lists cram the pages with plans and strategies for grazing management orchestrated by the newly formed Kajiado Rangeland Carbon Project team. In the language of the local Maasai tribe, Kajiado means The Long River; the region is located south of Nairobi and bordering Tanzania. Staff on this project understand what is at stake and are eager to embark on an adventure that will help enhance their local economy while conserving wildlife and precious habitat.
In early 2022, BRI partnered with CarbonSolve and others to develop carbon projects in grassland and rangeland habitats where grazing and/or fire management are the dominant activities. The group has recently launched a 1.5-million-hectare soil carbon project in the Kajiado District of Kenya’s southern rangelands region.
“This is a new area of research and development in carbon projects,” says Tim Tear, Ph.D., director of BRI’s Center for Conservation and Climate Change. “Our focus is specifically on improving carbon in the soil. We are implementing knowledge gained from our research to on-the-ground projects, working with pastoralists in sub-Saharan Africa on rotational grazing of livestock, as well as on fire management in national parks and protected areas in Africa to generate carbon revenues that allow you to move these projects forward in the long run.”
Why Soil Carbon and Why Now?
The global imperative to address climate change continues to increase along with interest in carbon offsets, as public and private entities strive to achieve NetZero targets.
The value of carbon credits is increasing as demand outstrips supply, and investors are increasingly interested in carbon sequestration and avoided emissions. Combining both sequestration and avoided emissions increases land management value.
“Talking about carbon and the carbon markets can be abstract and complicated, and a lot of these concepts get lost on most people,” says Tim. “But when working with people in pastoral communities who understand rotational grazing with livestock, or fire management personnel in a national park system, where these activities are already under way, they clearly see the potential benefits of these climate projects. The ability to reach consensus and understanding is quite quick and it’s extremely exciting when you see that happen.”
BRI’s special expertise of long-term monitoring wildlife movements and their responses to development activities, conducting long-term studies on contaminants in the environment, and applying scientific knowledge gained leads to a better understanding of the stressors impacting wildlife populations and insight on how best to provide solutions to those issues.
“BRI’s climate change studies matter because there are very tangible steps that we’re taking that will make a difference,” says Tim. “Everyone needs to find the tangible steps that they can take—it all adds up to big changes.”
What influences the amount of carbon in the soil?
Rotational grazing utilizes a portion of the grazing land while allowing the remainder to “rest.” Livestock is rotated from section to section, which leads to recovered grass, greater infiltration with lower runoff, and a deeper organic layer of soil that absorbs more carbon. More soil carbon means greater moisture retention and nutrient cycling capacity, making the land more resilient to drought.
Fire management is also an important aspect of land management. Land managers can accomplish a “cooler” burn by intentionally starting grassland fires early in the dry season, using less woody fuel overall but still removing enough vegetation to prevent unintended high-intensity fires later in the season. As a result, less carbon emissions are released into the atmosphere, while more carbon is retained in the soil.
Both outcomes are quantifiable and sellable as carbon offset credits on the global carbon market. For more information about these projects, click here.
More stories on https://briwildlife.org/bri-blog/.
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