Abstract:
The main objective of this study was to assess the opportunity costs of REDD+ to
the communities of Mufindi District. The specific objectives were, to identify and
assess the economic value of alternative land use, the aboveground carbon stock of
the sampled forest (Idewa Forest Reserve) under PFM, the profitability of each land
use and compare with the REDD+ incentives, and the willingness to accept (WTA)
of the communities towards REDD+. Structured and semi structured questionnaires,
personal observation, focused group discussion and forest inventory were used in
data collection. Sixty households out of 975 in two villages were sampled randomly.
The data was analyzed using the SPSS programme version 16 and Microsoft Excel
programme. Descriptive analysis was used to generate frequencies, percentages, Chi
square values, sums and means which were used to discuss the results. The main
land uses were agriculture and tree planting. Main crops cultivated include maize
and beans, and tree species planted was Pinus patula. The economic value for
agriculture and tree planting were $ 2 958.52 and $3 272.94 per ha per year
respectively. The aboveground carbon of the sampled forest was 39.23 t/ha (143.97
tC02e/ha). The opportunity costs of REDD+ was varying depending on the price per
ton of carbon. The general perception of the communities in the study area towards
REDD+/PFM was positive (53.3%) and their willingness to accept was positive. The
opportunity costs of REDD+ to the communities will be advantageous if the price
per ton of carbon dioxide equivalent will be $23 and above. Therefore there is no
general unit price per tC02e. I therefore recommends opportunity costs of REDD+
to different communities be used as guidance when making decision on unit prices of
carbon.
