Forest protection, Zimbabwe

Forest protection, Zimbabwe

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Zimbabwe has been torn apart by civil war, economic collapse, huge population growth and political unrest. Over the last 20 years, this has led to more than a third of Zimbabwe's forest being cut down and many animals being lost to deforestation.

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The Kariba project is conserving a huge area of forest along the shores of Lake Kariba. Nearly 800,000 hectares of forest are being protected, forming a huge biodiversity corridor between Chizarira, Matusadona and Mana Pools National Park (a World Heritage Site) and Lower Zambezi National Park in Zambia.

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The area is larger than all the forests in Denmark - combined! The project ensures that no additional forest is cut down and prevents forest fires by building "firebreaks".

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Side effects of Kariba

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A huge area of rainforest is protected, as well as a number of endangered animals, including the black rhino, African elephant, cheetah, lion, eagle raven and many more. These animals are protected indirectly because their habitat is not converted to agriculture and directly through park rangers who fight poachers.

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In addition to protecting the forest and the animals, the project also has a number of social spin-offs. 40% of the participants in the project are women, and the project is building new roads and wells in local areas, improving conditions in local hospitals and subsidising schooling for the poorest 25% of the area. Together with local people, it also teaches better farming practices, community gardening, bee-keeping, forest fire prevention and "eco-tourism".

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Award-winning project

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The project was the first forest conservation project to receive recognition from the National Carbon Offset Standard (NCOS), and the first to be approved for corporate purchase in Australia. It is verified by both the VCS (Verified Carbon Standard) and the CCBA (Climate Community and Biodiversity Alliance) at Gold level. This means that the project is continuously checked to ensure that the forest is actually protected and conserved, and that everything is going according to plan. It's our guarantee, and yours, that our money is making the difference it should. The project is developed by South Pole Carbon, which has won the "Best Project Developer" award at Environmental Finance 7 out of 9 times.


The project was supported by Climaider until 1. July 2020. We have since moved away from supporting forest protection because of the risk there will always be of a natural disaster or similar happening.