Community voices from Burkina Faso BOX 1 Ensuring a community-led and community-centred approach will always be essential to maintain high integrity and reduce overall risks, such as those relating to permanence. Engaging with communities, gaining their free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) and ensuring that project benefits are equally shared are principles highlighted by the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market as well as the United Nations.32 Tree Aid interviewed community members on its project sites in Burkina Faso to discuss their views of carbon: Awa Convolbo, 37, leads a women’s cooperative union producing and selling high-quality, organic shea butter. For Awa, the work goes beyond business; it’s about securing a healthier, more sustainable future for her family and for her community. She believes understanding the power of trees in carbon sequestration is key to this vision: “With carbon, the understanding that we have is that trees capture the air that is not good and release the air that is good,” she said. “And when you look at that, it helps human beings, it makes them feel better...If the trees take the bad air and give us the good air, our life expectancy is going to get longer; we will be able to live a little longer.” Saidou Zoungrana, 40, a farmer and president of the Vohoko East Forest cooperative, plays a key role in uniting his community around Tree Aid’s Tond Tenga project, recognizing its vital impact on their livelihoods and survival:“Our standard of living has improved significantly thanks to Tond Tenga, especially the money we earn from tree planting and seedling protection activities,” he said. “This money is reinvested in income-generating activities such as raising small ruminants, producing seedlings, growing legumes in our nutritious gardens and processing our forest products.” Saidou welcomes the wider environmental benefits that the project is trying to deliver: “Our forest areas will produce more, degraded lands will be restored, we will see more diverse trees on our land, the forest will regain its former glory. More trees, more carbon, more income.” Mahamdi Nikiema, 40, has been a farmer in Burkina Faso for most of his life. For Mahamdi, the impact of the Tond Tenga project is already noticeable: “The activities we carry out in the forest have brought in money that has been used to buy animals, food, pay school fees, pay for health care and other family expenses.” Mahamdi is also planning for the future income that the community will receive from carbon credits: “The money that will come from looking after our trees will be used to finance income-generating activities that can benefit many.”VCM Index score (Global Review) 0 (least attractive) 100 (most attractive) The 11 countries of the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and Sahel initiative Source: AbatableGlobal rating of VCM attractiveness, by country (2024) FIGURE 4 The Untapped Potential of Great Green Wall Voluntary Carbon Market Projects 12

The Untapped Potential of Great Green Wall Voluntary Carbon Market Projects 2024