South African farming communities have received their first carbon revenue payments from TASC's Grassland Restoration and Stewardship in South Africa (GRASS) project, with R2.7 million distributed across 15 participating communities following the sale of the project's first verified carbon credits.

Developed by TASC in partnership with Meat Naturally Africa, GRASS works with communal livestock farmers across the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal to restore degraded rangelands through regenerative grazing, improved livestock management, fire management and community-led land stewardship.

The payments follow the verification and issuance of 266,254 Verified Carbon Units earlier this year, covering the project's first monitoring period across more than 95,000 hectares and approximately 180 communities involving nearly 10,000 communal farmers. These credits were the first anywhere in the world to carry both the Climate, Community and Biodiversity (CCB) label and Verra's VM0042 methodology simultaneously, independently verifying that the project delivers measurable climate, community and biodiversity outcomes.

Unlike many conservation finance models, GRASS is structured so that carbon revenues flow directly to participating communities through their grazing associations. These first payments provide communities with new income linked directly to restoring and managing their grasslands, while supporting priorities including professional herder salaries, fire management, livestock health interventions and other activities that improve both rangeland condition and agricultural productivity.

The project's revenue-sharing model is designed to increase community benefit over time, with communities expected to receive more than 50% of cumulative net carbon revenue over the first 10 years and 80% by year 20.

The carbon payments add to wider economic benefits already generated through the project. Participating farmers have generated approximately R56.4 million in additional income through improved market access, supported by mobile livestock auctions and wool shearing services.

The project has also invested heavily in local capacity building. Through the Ecoranger programme, hundreds of community members have been trained in regenerative grazing, biodiversity monitoring, wildfire management and invasive species control, creating a locally rooted network of land stewards responsible for implementing and monitoring restoration activities.

Commenting on the milestone, Shelley Estcourt, CEO of TASC Africa, said: "This first payment demonstrates that high-integrity carbon finance can deliver tangible benefits for those restoring and managing these landscapes. Carbon credits are often discussed in terms of tonnes and markets, but their long-term value depends on creating durable economic opportunities for the people who make these projects possible. These first payments are only the beginning. GRASS has been designed as a long-term partnership and, as the project grows, carbon revenues are intended to become an increasingly important source of investment in local land stewardship and livelihoods."

Sarah Frazee, founder and CEO of Meat Naturally Africa, added: "Communities are not simply beneficiaries of a conservation project. They are active partners in restoring these landscapes and are now beginning to share directly in the value that restoration creates. This demonstrates that rural development and environmental restoration can reinforce one another when communities have genuine ownership and a meaningful economic stake in the outcomes."

South Africa's communal rangelands support millions of livestock and play a critical role in rural livelihoods, biodiversity conservation and carbon storage. GRASS aims to scale to two million hectares by 2030, with a target of mitigating 14 million tonnes of CO₂e over the project's first 30 years.

For more information on GRASS visit: https://tasc.je/2023/03/22/regenerative-grazing-in-south-africa/