Forest protection projects reduce emissions from deforestation, forest degradation, sustainable forest management, and carbon stock conservation. Developing countries can also earn results-based payments for emission reductions through these activities.
The Kulera Landscape REDD+ Program (VCS 1168) for Co-Managed Protected Areas in Malawi provides critical resources for communities to protect their forests through improved climate-smart agriculture and sustainable land use, planned by the communities themselves. Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world, and a landscape-based REDD+ approach that works directly through a community association is the most dependable path for conservation-based sustainable development. The REDD program areas are located in a five-kilometre zone inside the boundaries of three key protected areas in central and northern Malawi: Nyika National Park, Vwaza Wildlife Reserve, and Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve. These parks are under increasing pressure of encroachment from local populations, which has exacerbated deforestation and forest degradation rates along the borders of the protected zones. The overall goals of the Kulera Landscape REDD+ Program are to reduce deforestation and degradation in these selected protected areas and to improve livelihoods by managing natural resources as an asset base to capture long-term economic benefits. The project proponents are the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW), the Nyika-Vwaza Association (NVA), the Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve Association (NAWIRA), and Terra, who work with the communities in the border zone of the protected areas. The project is now selling VERs to continually fund conservation efforts in conjunction with livelihood improvements for successful climate, community and biodiversity benefits in a win, win, win situation.
Follow the latest milestones and updates from this project.
Kulera reduces greenhouse gas emissions by avoiding deforestation and forest degradation across a large landscape, delivering verified emission reductions under the VCS standard and CCB-approved social and biodiversity benefits. The project is highly additional: without carbon revenue, conservation activities would likely not be funded, and deforestation would continue. While risks exist, such as fire, monitoring uncertainty in dry forests, and debates over leakage, the project has demonstrably slowed forest loss compared to baseline scenarios and channels carbon finance into long-term forest stewardship.
The project enhances the protection of three nationally important and highly biodiverse protected areas, nearly all of which overlap with a Key Biodiversity Area that hosts more than 1,100 species. By funding patrols, boundary demarcation, and community-based management, the program reduces encroachment, illegal logging, and poaching along vulnerable park edges. Pressure on forests is further eased through improved farming practices and alternative livelihoods outside the parks. Independent assessments consistently find high biodiversity co-benefits, with significantly increased on-the-ground protection helping safeguard miombo woodlands and critical wildlife habitat.
The Kulera Landscape REDD+ Program supports some of the world's poorest communities by linking forest protection with tangible improvements in their livelihoods. It works through community associations around Nyika, Vwaza and Nkhotakota to promote climate-smart agriculture, agroforestry, and alternative income sources such as ecotourism and beekeeping. Carbon finance enables training, employment, and the provision of efficient cookstoves and solar systems, reducing household energy costs, indoor air pollution, and dependence on fuelwood. While benefit-sharing is not always through direct cash payments, communities receive sustained investments in skills, infrastructure, and local economic opportunities that would not exist without the project.
Reducing fuelwood and smoke pollution. The project has also produced 2,500 solar power systems to households surrounding the PA.
The project has provided training and employment to 68,000 men and 52,000 women. Increased revenue for tour guides and communities involved in eco-tourism. These activities provide economic support to local communities, indicating a strong impact on the SDG.
Kulera reduces greenhouse gas emissions by avoiding deforestation and forest degradation across a large landscape, delivering verified emission reductions under the VCS standard and CCB-approved social and biodiversity benefits.
These partners help deliver the project and verify its impact.
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.
