Earning payments from tree planting

Tree planters receive payments for the carbon dioxide that their trees will absorb.
© Elaine Muir/Plan Vivo Foundation

Farmers living in deforested and degraded land in Uganda have begun earning carbon credit payments by planting indigenous trees. The payments are made by companies in Europe and America who want to reduce their environmental impact by compensating for their carbon dioxide emissions. Local NGO, Ecotrust Uganda, provides technical support to the farmers, and calculates the payments they are entitled to – according to how much carbon is stored in the trees over their life span. Pauline Nantongo, Executive Director of Ecotrust Uganda, explains more about this valuable new opportunity, which is creating income for local farmers, restoring the degraded land and also helping to tackle global warming.