Afforestation, reforestation and revegetation differ by land-use history. ARR projects restore tree and vegetation cover on degraded or non-forested land, removing CO₂ through biomass and soil carbon.
This afforestation project aims to incentivise groups of subsistence farmers in Kenya to plant trees on their land. Farmers will own the trees planted and their products. The tree planting programme will train and empower farmers and provide funding to help address challenges relating to agriculture, HIV/AIDS, and nutrition. The International Small Group and Tree Planting Program already supports over 64,000 subsistence farmers.
TIST Kenya 006 is an enormous grass-roots reforestation effort whose goal is to plant trees on 18,100 individual small farms in rural Kenya. In the 20th century, most of this region of Kenya was entirely deforested, and today only a few small patches of preserves exist.
The project correctly identifies that many unique and endangered species are at risk today due to a lack of forest cover in the region. The project plants a variety of tree species. A portion is commercial Eucalyptus, intended to be harvested and replanted as a source of income for farmers, but a majority are native species or food-bearing trees. Renoster strongly supports “bottom-up” projects like this. Community benefits are numerous in this project, and most importantly, small landowners are directly being paid for their contribution rather than a set of bureaucratic intermediaries. The program intends to pay farmers 70% of the credit revenue, and has so far been able to pay farmers on average over $9,800 each for their efforts.
Follow the latest milestones and updates from this project.
The TIST Kenya VCS 006 project contributes to climate mitigation by enabling large-scale afforestation across more than 18,000 smallholder farms in rural Kenya, a region that experienced widespread deforestation during the 20th century. By planting and maintaining trees on previously degraded agricultural land, the project increases long-term carbon sequestration while avoiding further land degradation under a business-as-usual scenario.
The project delivers meaningful benefits for nature by restoring tree cover in a highly fragmented landscape where remaining forests are scarce, and biodiversity is under threat. A diverse mix of tree species is planted, including native and food-bearing trees that enhance habitat quality, soil health, and ecosystem resilience, alongside a limited proportion of commercial eucalyptus that is sustainably managed. This approach supports wildlife corridors, reduces erosion, and improves land productivity while helping reverse historical forest loss.
TIST Kenya places smallholder farmers at the centre of climate action, delivering strong social and economic benefits through a “bottom-up” community-led model. Participating farmers retain ownership of their land and trees and receive 70% of carbon credit revenues, alongside additional income from fuelwood, food production, animal fodder, and timber diversification. The project also provides training, organisational support, and resources that improve agricultural resilience, nutrition, and livelihoods, particularly for subsistence farmers. By directly rewarding local participation rather than relying on intermediaries, the project supports poverty reduction, empowerment, and long-term community engagement while aligning climate outcomes with local development needs.
TIST works to combat climate change through the sequestering of carbon in a direct, quantifiable way. Sequestration is accomplished through the planting and growing of trees and sequestering carbon by improving the quality of the soil. In addition to sequestering carbon, forests reduce the temperature of the air by evaporating water through their leaves and reduce the soil temperature by shading the ground.
TIST provides biodiversity benefits by adding indigenous tree, fruit trees, nut trees and canopy. TIST farmers are trained in biodiversity. TIST project areas provide linkage and buffers with high conservation value areas.
These partners help deliver the project and verify its impact.
TIST is an innovative, time-tested afforestation program led by the participants. TIST Farmers are successfully counteracting the devastating effects of deforestation, erosion, famine, droughts and floods through an innovative solution: planting millions of trees.
The Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program is the world's most widely used greenhouse gas (GHG) crediting program.
Projects developed under the CCB Program must follow a rigorous assessment process to be certified. The CCB Standards are managed by Verra but were developed through a multi-stakeholder process by the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Alliance, a partnership of CARE, Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, the Rainforest Alliance and the Wildlife Conservation Society.
