The Humbo Community-based Natural Regeneration Project

Summary

The Humbo Community-based Natural Regeneration Project started in 2005 and is Ethiopia’s first carbon trading initiative. It is implemented by World Vision Ethiopia and funded by the World Bank BioCarbon Fund. The project covers 2,728 hectares of degraded forest which have been gradually restored and is sustainably managed by surrounding rural communities. It is the first of its kind in Ethiopia using farmer-managed natural regeneration techniques to restore the degraded natural forest and generate carbon credits. 

The Humbo Community-based Natural Regeneration Project has gone through some significant achievements since the start of implementation. For example, in 2009 it was validated as an Afforestation/Reforestation (A/R) project under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). In 2011 it achieved First Edition Gold Level validation under the Climate, Community and Biodiversity (CCB) Standards, and in October 2012 it became the first project in Africa to sell temporary Certified Emission Reductions. In total 73,000 credits were issued under the CDM and these were purchased by the World Bank BioCarbon Fund.  

The full amount of the carbon revenue awarded is being reinvested in productive, community-driven activities, paying for micro businesses such as beekeeping, livestock husbandry and the construction of a flour mill and grain storage facility. These activity-investments are intended to replace traditional activities such as fuel collection, which was previously the main source of income for many Humbo residents.