The project seeks to employ the Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) to carry out activities in Rukinga for participation in the voluntary carbon markets.

According to Alfred Gichu, a Chief Forest Officer from KFS, the National Focal Point for REDD Projects: "KFS intends to forge strong partnerships with the private sector in Kenya, a nation that takes pride in its role as an innovative business leader for East Africa.

We welcome the entrance of Wildlife Works Carbon into the market, to assist us and Kenya's rural landowners in managing the technical complexity of the global carbon market, to engage the global carbon offset buyer in our efforts to protect our wilderness heritage, and to contribute to global efforts in climate change mitigation."

Wildlife Works Carbon is a new venture of Wildlife Works, Inc., a global leader in applying innovative market based solutions to the conservation of biodiversity.

"Wildlife Works has been a leader in using the power of the consumer marketplace to conserve biodiversity and protect forest habitat, and we see the emerging Voluntary Carbon Marketplace as a logical and exciting extension of our 10 year history," said Mike Korchinsky, Founder and President of Wildlife Works.

"We are pleased to see the VCS acting quickly to set in place a clear framework for avoided deforestation projects under their new REDD process, at a pace appropriate for the incredible threat facing frontier forests in the developing world," says Colin Wiel, co-Founder of Wildlife Works Carbon.

Wildlife Works Carbon believes it is their role and indeed their responsibility to help local landowners in the developing world to monetize their incredible forest and biodiversity assets whether they are communities, ownership groups or private individuals. What's more they are betting on the fact that the Global Voluntary Carbon marketplace is ready for carbon credits that the average consumer can relate to.

"If you had a choice between carbon credits generated when a commercial factory pig farm reduces its toxic methane emissions, or carbon credits from a threatened natural forest that brings with them protection of elephants, lions, cheetah, giraffe and 54 other large mammal species which one would you prefer?" asks Korchinsky.

Wildlife Works Carbon, LLC is a new joint venture of Wildlife Works, Inc. and Colin Wiel Enterprises, and was established to pursue the use of the emerging marketplace for REDD Carbon Offsets as a sustainable and scaleable funding mechanism for biodiverse forest protection. Our first project in Rukinga, Kenya, builds on a successful 12 year track record, of bringing much needed jobs to a community that was being forced to destroy their magnificent wilderness in order to survive. In that time they have turned back time, and restored a huge piece of land to a healthy vibrant ecosystem, full of elephants, lions, and 50 other species of large mammal.

At the same time, the community has received 18 new classrooms for their children, and the employees and their families have received full health care benefits in a community with incredibly high HIV incidence. Wildlife Works also founded an organic greenhouse to promote healthier farming practices, to provide local farmers with cash generating citrus trees and free agroforestry trees to use for building and fuel wood. Wildlife Works Carbon will provide the financial additionality to ensure long term sustainability of Wildlife Works efforts in Kenya and beyond.

The Kenya Forest Service, as the national REDD focal point, is currently spearheading a local multi-stakeholder effort to among other things develop a national strategy for implementation of REDD activities in the country. This will be done in close liaison with the Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources, which is mandated to coordinate climate change activities in the country. The Ministry has been very active in enlisting support from the private sector towards climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts.