NGO raises funds to support Africa Green Wall via Earthshot
Quantum Commodity Intelligence – UK-based NGO Tree Aid has raised funds through US platform Earthshot Labs to support tree planting in Burkina Faso, part of Africa's "Great Green Wall" to combat desertification, it said Wednesday.
The Tond Tenga project aims to plant over 6.6 million native trees in Burkina Faso, a West African country with vast swathes of desert, and monetise the process with voluntary carbon credits.
Tree Aid and Earthshot Labs did not specify the amount raised, but said it was led by an undisclosed private family office based in New York and California and will generate "over $30 million" in direct community financial benefits over the project's lifetime.
The transaction was described by both partners as "one of the largest project finance deals for reforestation in Africa".
"This is an incredible milestone for delivering on the ambitions set out by the Great Green Wall Initiative, and will deliver meaningful impacts to the local resource-dependent communities of Burkina Faso, now and far into the future," said Tom Skirrow, chief executive of Tree Aid.
"Earthshot Labs was critical in developing and securing financing for this ground-breaking initiative," he also said.
California-based Earthshot Labs has developed a platform to analyse nature-based carbon project opportunities around the world, including financial return, regulatory requirements and operational feasibility.
"Recent controversy about REDD+ projects has led some investors to focus instead on carbon removals from reforestation, which are supported by clear scientific consensus," said Earthshot.
"We are currently structuring a project finance portfolio to match investor liquidity requirements with shorter-term bridge financing for early stage projects, and a longer-term infrastructure facility once the projects are derisked."
The Great Green Wall Initiative was launched in 2007 by the African Union to restore 100 million hectares of land and capture 250 million tonnes of carbon dioxide across more than 20 countries, however, progress has been described by observers as slow.
In December, Burkina Faso became the sixth African country and the 20th jurisdiction globally to join the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART) programme after signing the so-called "concept" document.
The programme will cover 4.3 million hectares of forests, or 83% of the country's total, over the years 2025 to 2029, and will be managed by the Permanent Secretariat for REDD+ within the Ministry of Environment, Water and Sanitation.
