Presentation short abstract

This presentation reflects on socioecological changes occurring with carbon projects in eastern and southern African rangelands. Focusing on domestic and wild species being (re)introduced to enhance sequestration, we consider what a multispecies lens reveals about power in rangeland carbon projects.

Presentation long abstract

As the world scrambles to avert ecological catastrophe, carbon offsetting projects have become a defining climate mitigation strategy of our era. Growing demand for carbon credits has seen millions of hectares acquired for new carbon projects in the global South, where land is perceived as readily available and easily converted to uses that sequester carbon at scale. Political ecology has a strong history of engaging with the socioeconomic risks and harms of carbon projects; but as increasingly diverse carbon projects are expanded into increasingly diverse contexts, there is a need to understand the interrelated ecological implications of the ongoing carbon rush.

This presentation considers the socioecological transformations associated with carbon projects in rangelands – shared by humans, livestock, and wildlife – across eastern and southern Africa. Drawing from two years of research, we reveal how rangeland carbon projects are altering human-nature relations and giving rise to novel multispecies communities; for example, by introducing new grass species, replacing cattle and other livestock breeds with ‘improved’ species, and recovering wild fauna. With the promise of increasing carbon sequestration in soil and vegetation, rangeland carbon projects are altering socioecological systems and trajectories across the region.

In response, we ask: What species are being enrolled in rangeland carbon projects, by who, and why? How do these interact with other species in project areas? To what extent are humans differentially affected by these changes? And what, if anything, new can a multispecies lens reveal about the workings of power in rangeland carbon projects specifically?