Tanzania Carbon projects are currently operating based on the Environmental Management (Control and Management of Carbon Trading) Regulations, 2022 to enable a conducive environment of trading in the United Republic of Tanzania.
Environmental Management (Control and Management of Carbon Trading) Regulations, 2022
Kanuni za Udhibiti na Usimamizi wa Biashara ya Kaboni za Mwaka 2022
The objective of the NCMC is to build national capacity to measure, verify and report adequately on carbon emissions at the national and international level.
During the first six years (2016-2021) of the NCMC, many activities have been accomplished that have wider contributions to the objective of establishing NCMC: –
• One major output is the development and submission of the Forest Reference Emission Level (FREL). After the submission of the first draft of FREL in December 2016 it went through a rigorous technical review by UNFCCC technical team. This process culminated in July 2018 where UNFCCC published the Tanzanian FREL (https://redd.unfccc.int/submissions.html?country=tza). Up to June 2018, only three African countries had completed the Technical Assessment process of their FREL. These countries were Ethiopia, Congo and Madagascar. Having reached this stage Tanzania was the fourth African country to complete its FREL technical assessment.
• The FREL development process has been an asset for capacity building among Tanzanian in particular SUA experts on carbon emission estimation and reporting using UN-standards, especially during preparation of required data (activity and emission factor), databases and Land Use Land Cover change (LULC) maps.
• NCMC developed LULC maps. The new national rate of deforestation that is now adopted in the current revision of the Forest Policy came from these maps. The maps may also be used to identify deforestation hotspot areas. Subsequently they are also used in quantification of drivers of deforestation and forest degradation in Tanzania. This process is an essential input in the on-going policy review and more specifically in the national REDD+ strategy. Besides, the LULC maps may serve as a baseline for analysis and monitoring of forest cover change and assessment of areas for restoration.
• NCMC has acquired and developed databases for LULC, GHGs and National Forest Inventory for Mainland Tanzania and Wood Biomass Survey for Zanzibar. These data are now stored in the NCMC server. Student and staff from SUA have access to this data for research and training. The server is also available for storage of data from other research and training activities.
• At national scale the data e.g. emission factor and activity data developed by the NCMC is useful and has been used in the preparation of the National GHGs inventory of 2018. The data is also useful for other national processes.
• NCMC has been a mechanism for an institution building, a center of excellence for MRV for REDD+ in the country, through: –
a. Building human capacity- recruiting and providing additional on job trainings to Tanzanian experts;
b. MRV related Infrastructure through procurement of field and office tools and equipment such as vehicles, furniture, computer, forest measurement equipment (GPS, Calipers, diameter tapes, Vertex-digital hypsometers etc.), which will continue to be used by various experts and students in Tanzania (SUA in particular) for measuring, reporting and verification of forest carbon;
c. A contact point for MRV related matters for Tanzanian public institutions including Ministries of Environment, Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, and their district offices; TFS, TAFORI, and Tanzanian Universities; and
d. Provide a contact point with international institutions on MRV related matters, such as Norwegian Institutions, mainly NIBIO and NMBU, and others including UNFCCC, FAO, European commission -Joint Research Center, as well as Regional Center for mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD) and south-south cooperation within eastern and southern African countries.
• NCMC was actively involved in the process of the National GHGs inventory through which the National Green House Gases (GHGs) inventory report of 2018 was produced. The process also yielded the GHGs Inventory MRV System and its management Plan. Due to its experience gained during the FREL development which generated useful data for the LULUCF sector, NCMC was given a coordination role for the National GHGs Inventory MRV system. With this new role, NCMC need to establish MRV systems for the other four sectors of Agriculture, Energy, Industrial Processes and Products Use (IPPU), and Waste Management.
• NCMC is currently engaging national experts from the sectors of Agriculture, Energy, Industrial Processes and Products Use (IPPU), and Waste Management to review the databases used in the previous GHG Inventory and collect and analyse new datasets for improvement.
Prof. E. Zahabu
Coordinator, NCMC