Mozban is a cattle operation in Vilanculos, Mozambique. They hold a 49-year lease on 30,960 hectares of forestland in the great central African Miombo. The Miombo is a region of tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas and shrublands. The area has lost 56,000 hectares of tree cover between 2001 and 2021 as a result of unsustainable, small-scale farming. The area is primed to become a large-scale conservation project.
The Mozban project will involve the conservation of a large and threatened endemic forest area. It will generate carbon credits by reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) on land that would otherwise face deforestation and degradation.
A third-party pre-feasibility study has already been conducted, estimating mitigation of 0.9-1.9 million tonnes of CO2 (and generation of the equivalent number of credits) over 20 years. This value is pending the actual amount of approved conversion by Verra. Additional studies on agroforestry alternatives including macadamia, mango and cashew, and the avoidance of forest degradation of native trees are ongoing.
The project is estimated to start in 2024, with a length of 49 years and the right to extend for successive 10-year periods. It will be overseen by the Mozban management team who have more than 10 years of experience in Mozambique, and Key Carbon will be investing in and supporting the project.
Mozambique has 40 million hectares of forest vulnerable to alarmingly high rates of deforestation, providing ample opportunity for expansion of this partnership.
