How Carbon Credits Fund Our Future

How Carbon Credits Fund Our Future

Banking on Nature

In late July, a small team began soil sampling along the river’s edge, driving corers deep into the earth to collect plugs rich with roots, minerals, and organic matter – the building blocks of carbon storage over many growing seasons.

This soil survey is the first step in a three-year journey that will turn Karongwe’s natural assets into a powerful force for regeneration. 

By joining an enhanced carbon credits programme with our neighbouring reserves, we can monetise what our land already does best: absorb and store carbon in riverine woodland, diverse grasslands, and deep, healthy soils. And we can use that money to fund our broader regeneration activities.

The payoff is real — and dramatic. In year three, the programme is projected to deliver a multi-million-rand lump sum, followed by substantial annual returns.

For Brett Bowes, the programme highlights something rare in conservation: a revenue stream that rewards landowners for keeping wild spaces intact. To him, it’s proof that the luxury safari economy of the future can be sustained by the ecological investments being made today.

For guests, it means their stay goes beyond being  carbon-neutral — it’s carbon-positive, helping lock away greenhouse gases while safeguarding the scenery, species, and spirit of Karongwe for generations to come.