Gashaka Gumti, Nigerian nature-based carbon initiative selected to get UK support

The Carbon Accelerator Programme for the Environment (CAPE) has announced that Gashaka Gumti Forest Carbon Project, one of the first nature-based carbon projects in Nigeria, has been selected from over 100 applicants across 28 African nations as one of four projects in its first cohort to receive project feasibility and development support.

According to a statement by the organisation, Funded by FSD Africa, the UK-backed financial sector development agency, CAPE is an initiative to mobilise investment into nature-based carbon projects across Africa that will reduce carbon emissions, enhance carbon sequestration, protect biodiversity, and deliver tangible benefits for local communities.

The first four projects – from Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia – will receive support to get them from the development phase to investment phase. They are:
Gashaka Gumti Forest Carbon Project: a project facilitating the natural regeneration of forests in Gashaka Gumti, Nigeria’s largest national park
Papariko Mangroves: a mangrove restoration project that spans the coastal areas of southeastern Kenya.

Rubeho Mountains Carbon Project: a community-based forest protection and restoration project in the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania.

Barotse Rangelands for Restoration: a livestock enhancement and rangeland restoration project in Barotseland, Zambia.

These four projects showcase the diverse scope of CAPE, and were chosen based on their stage of development, social and environmental impact potential, alignment with carbon buyer and investor preferences, and potential to replicate and scale-up. Their potential to deliver tangible benefits to communities was a particularly important criterion.

CAPE was launched in November 2024 by FSD Africa in partnership with the African Natural Capital Alliance (ANCA) and Finance Earth – a leading international environmental impact advisor and investor in nature, climate, and community projects – to address the lack of early-stage funding for nature-based carbon projects across Africa.

CAPE aims to fill that gap by providing recoverable grant funding and tailored transaction advisory support necessary to advance projects to investment-readiness. Its partners strongly believe that by leveraging Africa’s nature as a powerful economic asset, there is a significant opportunity to advance local livelihoods, protect irreplaceable biodiversity and support climate resilience.

With 62% of Africa’s GDP reliant on natural capital and a global annual funding gap for biodiversity of between US$598 billion and US$824 billion, CAPE aims to build confidence in Africa’s nature-based carbon markets and ultimately catalyse investment into Africa’s natural capital by focusing on high-integrity projects which have strong links with their local communities, materialised through equitable governance structures, with strong biodiversity outcomes and backed by up-to-date rigorous carbon methodologies.

“CAPE shows that Africa’s natural capital is not just a solution to the climate crisis, but a catalyst for tackling interconnected planetary challenges while unlocking fair and inclusive growth,” said Reshma Shah, the Carbon Markets Lead at FSD Africa. “These projects go beyond generating carbon credits—they are blueprints for redefining how the world invests in and values nature.”