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Protecting over 200,000 hectares of a vital migration corridor between Tsavo East and West National Parks, the Kasigau Wildlife Sanctuary helps keep two of East Africa’s vast natural spaces connected.
14,000 endangered elephants and countless lions, zebras, and leopards, now have room to roam.
It also supports over 116,000 community members through job creation and economic development, including a sustainable clothing factory.
Kasigau protects 200,000 hectares of dryland acacia-comiphora forest and its biodiversity. The area is a vital migration corridor for thousands of animals crossing from Tsavo East to Tsavo West National Parks, including more than 50 species of large mammals, 20 species of bats, and over 300 species of birds.
The Virginia Beach Forest project protects an area of 24.29 acres of mixed pine and lowland hardwood forest situated centrally in the City of Virginia Beach between the predominantly rural southern region and the residential northern region. The forest is separated into distinct area differing in age. Area one is a dense 30-year-old stand of loblolly pine and lowland hardwood species that naturally regenerated on previous agricultural fields. Area two is a previously unmanaged 90-year-old stand of mature lowland hardwood species including white and willow oak, sweetgum, and red maple, along with a smaller proportion of loblolly pine, typical of low-lying mesic sites in the coastal plain. The forest is predominantly located in a floodplain draining into West Neck Creek, which provides a valuable buffer between residential neighborhoods and the creek.
Without the project, local community members would have few economic alternatives other than extractive activities such as slash-and-burn agriculture. Kasigau directly employs 350+ locals as plot sampling and community outreach staff, unarmed wildlife rangers, and tailors in the factory for its eco-friendly clothing line.
Carbon credit revenue is distributed directly to 4,500 local landowners, and the wider community of over 116,000 decides how to allocate these revenues to social and economic development programs, including organic greenhouses, access to clean water, education, and training in sustainable farming.
Through the project, hundreds of high school and college scholarships are awarded annually; 30 classrooms have been built or renovated; and pre-kindergarten has been introduced to the area. Over 50,000 people now have access to clean water through 30 projects, which has further improved school attendance.
Kasigau will prevent the emissions of 45 million tonnes of CO2 over its 30-year lifetime, validated and verified under the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS). It has also achieved CCB Gold status for exceptional biodiversity and climate benefits.
The Kasigau Wildlife Corridor provides a safe haven and migration area for 14,000 endangered African elephants (and a permanent home for 2,500 of them), plus other threatened or vulnerable species such as giraffes, Grevy’s zebras, wild dogs, cheetahs, lions, and leopards.
