Community Climate Solutions (CCS) has launched a new woodlands restoration project in Zambia, aiming to remove up to 2 million tons of atmospheric CO2 emissions on a yearly basis by 2030.
Marketed by Climate Impact Partners, this initiative will attract climate finance to this Global South country, expected to improve the livelihoods of 240,000 Zambians.
The Ecopreneur Movement—Miombo Woodland Restoration Project is an initiative that trains local farmers, turning them into “ecopreneurs” that practice skills for restoring Zambia’s Miombo Woodlands, a region that acts as a vital carbon sink in this part of the world.
Through this program, the farmers adopt skills in tree planting, sustainable farming, and fire prevention, helping the Miombo Woodlands build resilience towards changes introduced by an unstable climate.
To generate carbon removal, local farmers will focus on introducing native trees to farmlands, where the trees will be planted alongside crops and livestock to improve the soil health, boost food production, and remove CO2 through the trees and soil.
The restoration will also include planting native species, protecting natural regrowth, and preventing fires, which is expected to contribute to improved biodiversity and captured atmospheric carbon.
A combined system of satellite imagery and local field teams will track the project to ensure the highest levels of integrity, measuring components like above-ground woody biomass growth, fire reduction, and soil CO2 accumulation.
Climate Impact Partners has shared plans on registering this project under Verra’s latest reforestation methodology (VM0047), aiming to obtain the new ABACUS quality label at first verification.
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So far, the project has connected with a network of 25,000 farmers who have enrolled to become ecopreneurs, with these numbers expected to double by the end of 2025.
Seed funding provided by CCS enables the farmers to get paid upfront for their eco-services, and 60% of the available carbon revenues minus the standard registry and regulatory fees will go directly towards the farmers and the local people in this area.
Designed with a structure that intends to deliver both community benefits and carbon removal results for more than a century, this project is expected to begin CO2 credit issuance in 2027, with verified removals to be delivered over a period of 40 years.
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