Manual for Developing Nature-based Carbon Projects in Eastern Africa

Nature-based solutions (NbS) are critical for tackling climate change while supporting biodiversity, livelihoods, and sustainable development. In Eastern Africa, vast opportunities exist to conserve forests, restore grasslands, and expand agroforestry systems that sequester carbon, build resilience, and deliver co-benefits for communities and ecosystems. Carbon markets are an important mechanism to finance NbS, yet many project developers in Eastern Africa face barriers to participation.

To help bridge this gap, the manual Developing Nature-based Carbon Projects in Eastern Africa equips readers—particularly project developers in Eastern Africa—with the tools to design and implement high-integrity carbon projects. Produced by Climate Focus and the Eastern Africa Alliance on Carbon Markets and Climate Finance (EAA), as part of the Access Strategies Program of the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI), the manual provides step-by-step guidance for designing, implementing, and scaling NbS carbon projects. Covering topics such as project design, baselines, additionality, permanence, leakage, monitoring, costs, timelines, legal and regulatory considerations, and commercialization approaches, it offers potential project developers and other stakeholders clear, accessible guidance to advance high-integrity nature-based carbon projects in EAA Member Countries (Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda).