NRT's Statement regarding the Survival International Report
NRT is aware of a recent report by Survival International expressing concerns about the Northern Kenya Rangelands Carbon Project. Our response to the report is that it is misguided, poorly researched and inaccurate in nearly all respects.
The report suggests that NRT is financially benefiting from the project, when in fact NRT does not take any profit.
The report suggests that minimal Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) occurred, in fact a detailed and extensive FPIC process was followed, conducted in local languages, and the project has massive and widespread community support.
Their report fails to correctly identify the project developers, its purchasers, its location and does not even provide correct population data, despite this information being available on NRT’s website and the project website.
The report falsely claims that NRT has provided them data, when in fact Survival International has never once contacted NRT or the NKRCP to request this data.
The report claims that the carbon credits are directly based on satellite imagery, when in fact this is not the case. The NDVI data are used only to identify areas that were grazed in accordance with the project activity and those that were not - for purposes of excluding the latter from crediting for the applicable monitoring period. NDVI data are not an input to the accrual quantification model.
The report claims that leakage is not accounted for, when in fact every animal that is unaccounted for or moves off the project site is automatically assumed to be causing degradation where they are, a conservative approach adopted to reduce the number of credits otherwise to be issued from the project. Credits are issued only with respect to livestock counts and movements for which there is reliable data.
The report suggests that soil testing is not being conducted, when in fact direct soil sampling has been conducted at the beginning of the project and then during our validation and verification site visits in 2021. Results of the 2021 sampling are currently going through verification and provide support for the robustness of the model and effectiveness of the project activity.
The report knowingly repeats long discredited claims of land grabbing and human rights abuses, all of which have been investigated and disproved by both the Kenyan National Government, Kenyan County Governments, and a recent independent report. • The report falsely claims that a conservancy has withdrawn from the project.
The report incorrectly reports the revenue sharing agreements of the project, despite this information being publicly available.
The project was validated under Verra’s Verified Carbon Standard by two independent external auditors, and has undergone two verifications, by two different external auditors, and was awarded Triple Gold Status by the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA) due to the benefits from the project to wildlife and communities. Natural Climate Solutions Alliance awarded the project Lighthouse status in November 2022.
As a result of Survival International’s comments, Verra, the organisation that validates the carbon credits, has begun a Section 6 Review to ensure the quality of procedures followed in verifying the credits issued from the project. The response to these comments is available here.
We are confident in the data and documentation behind the project and see the benefits of the project to the community and the environment throughout the year. The result of the Section 6 Review will be public, as will the detailed point-by-point scientific response. We welcome this review as it will only work to strengthen the project.
For all enquires please contact: comms@nrt-kenya.org
Download this statement here
Swahili: Soma kauli ya NRT kuhusu ripoti ya shirika la Survival International