Kenya has taken a major step in the fight against climate change by launching Africa’s first national REDD+ Registry, a digital system that will track and record all projects aimed at reducing deforestation and restoring forests.
The registry was officially unveiled alongside REDD+ Nesting Guidelines, which set clear rules for how community, private sector, and government forest projects will fit into the country’s overall plan to cut carbon emissions.
The launch, supported by the UK Government and Conservation International, makes Kenya the first country in Africa to have such a transparent and nationally coordinated system for managing forest carbon projects. Other countries that have adopted the system are Indonesia, Peru, and Vietnam
REDD+ stands for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation. It is a global framework that encourages countries to protect forests and, in return, earn carbon credits. These credits can then be sold in international or local markets, bringing in money for conservation and community development.
In simple terms, it means finding ways to keep our forests standing, so they continue absorbing carbon from the atmosphere, while also giving communities alternative ways to earn a living.
Kenya is losing about 12,000 hectares of forest every year due to farming expansion, logging, and charcoal burning. This has reduced forest cover in some regions to as low as 6%, threatening water sources, wildlife, and even food production.
Forests like the Mau, Aberdares, and Mt. Kenya are also key water towers. When they are destroyed, rivers dry up, rainfall patterns change, and droughts become more severe.
The REDD+ Registry will make it easier to track forest protection efforts and ensure that carbon trading in Kenya is transparent, fair, and beneficial to communities.
The new online system will keep official records of all REDD+ projects in the country. It will also prevent double-counting, where the same emission reduction is claimed by two different projects and ensure Kenya meets international standards under the Paris Agreement.
The Nesting Guidelines launched alongside the registry will align small, local projects with the national strategy. Whether a project is run by a community forest association, a county government, or a private investor, it will now be linked to Kenya’s central system.
The guidelines also require that local communities give their consent, share in the benefits, and have their rights to land and carbon respected.
For the next two years, the registry will be hosted in the UK as Kenya builds its own local capacity to manage it.
According to the Ministry of Environment, the registry will bring in new climate finance from carbon markets, which can be invested in tree planting, water projects, and alternative livelihoods. It will also, the ministry says, protect biodiversity by helping conserve forests that are home to unique wildlife, support the government’s 15 billion tree-planting target by 2032 and provide transparency so the public knows where forest projects are, who runs them, and how benefits are shared.
Environment experts say this move will help Kenya position itself as a leader in climate-smart forestry, attracting both local and international investors.
While the launch has been praised, some conservation groups warn that the success of the system will depend on fair benefit sharing with communities, strong monitoring, and proper enforcement of the rules.
Others have called for more training for county governments and local forest associations so they can take full advantage of the opportunities offered by carbon markets.
If done right, the REDD+ system could turn forests into valuable national assets, providing jobs, protecting water sources, and helping fight climate change, while putting Kenya at the front of Africa’s green economy.
