Opportunity Costs of REDD+ to the Communities of Mufindi District, Iringa, Tanzania

The study was done to assess the opportunity costs of REDD+ to the communities of Mufindi District which is located in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania. The specific objectives were, to identify and assess the economic value of alternative land uses, the aboveground carbon stock of Idewa Forest Reserve (IFR), and the profitability of each land use as compared to REDD+ incentives. Data were collected using questionnaire survey, key informant interview, and forest inventory and data were analyzed using the Excel programme. Results showed that the main land uses were agriculture and tree planting with economic values of $2958.52 and $3272.94 per ha per year, respectively. The total aboveground carbon was 39.23？t/ha (143.97/ha). The opportunity costs of REDD+ was varying depending on the price per ton of carbon. The opportunity costs of REDD+ will be profitable if the price per tCO2e will be at least $23. It can therefore be concluded that there is no general unit price per ton of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e), as it depends on REDD+ opportunity cost when compared with alternative land uses within a particular place. Therefore we recommend opportunity costs of REDD+ to communities be used to guide decision making on unit prices of carbon. 1. Introduction Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) was recognized officially at the 2007 CoP13 in Bali. In 2005, discussions focused only on “reducing emissions from deforestation” (RED). As it became clear that forest degradation in some countries was an even bigger problem than deforestation, “avoided degradation” (the second D) was officially endorsed at the 2007 COP13 in Bali and RED morphed into “reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation” (REDD). Subsequently, it was further recognized that there could be climate benefits not only from avoiding negative changes (deforestation, degradation) but also from enhancing positive changes, such as conserving and restoring forests [1]. This can be referred to as “removals” or “negative emissions.” It was expressed as the “+,” and “reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD); and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries” (REDD+) became official language at the 2008 COP14 in Poznan [2]. A core idea underlying REDD+ is to make performance-based payments, that is, to pay forest owners and users to reduce emissions and increase carbon sequestration. Regardless of whether or not individuals or communities