Maasai in Tanzania Say Volkswagen Carbon‑Credit Plan Threatens Their Way of Life; NGOs Call It 'Greenwashing'

Namnyak, a Maasai herder in northern Tanzania, says a Volkswagen‑linked carbon‑credit programme could upend her community's traditional livelihood. The project pays local herders to follow a strict rotational grazing schedule intended to increase soil carbon storage, with companies buying the resulting credits.

What the project proposes

The initiative, managed locally by Soils for the Future Tanzania (SftFTZ), covers Longido and Monduli districts — about 16,000 km2 (roughly 6,200 sq mi), or some 20 times the size of New York City. Under the programme, communities are offered about $2 per hectare to sign contracts of up to 40 years and adopt a grazing regime that requires moving cattle roughly every two weeks.

Concerns from Maasai and NGOs

Many Maasai say the plan misunderstands or duplicates their long‑standing seasonal grazing systems and fear it could undermine their control of land and livelihoods. 'It does not matter how much money they give us. We depend on our land for our cattle, our crops and our beekeeping. This is our lives, and the ones of the future generations,' Namnyak told reporters.

Maasai lawyer Joseph Oleshangay called the scheme a 'scam' and asked why similar programmes are not run near major corporate headquarters. 'Why is Volkswagen not doing this in Frankfurt or New York? Because they feel people here are easier to manipulate,' he said.

NGOs and researchers warn that such projects can disrupt local communities while delivering little measurable environmental benefit. A 2023 study by Survival International of a similar Kenyan scheme judged it 'highly implausible' that the new grazing rules were actually being implemented and said vegetation continued to deteriorate in parts of the project area.

Responses from industry and standards bodies

Volkswagen's environmental arm, ClimatePartner, and SftFTZ reject claims of land seizure, saying credits will be backed by scientifically validated measurements, including regular soil sampling. SftFTZ also promises that 51 percent of the value of any sold credits will go to local communities.

Verra, the main independent validator for many carbon projects, suspended credits from a major forestry project in Zimbabwe in September after finding claimed benefits had been overstated. Verra has told reporters it has not yet audited the Tanzanian project or a competing plan from the Nature Conservancy in the same region.

Debate over carbon markets

Supporters of carbon credit markets argue they can channel sustained investment into rural areas. Critics counter that credits may enable companies to continue polluting elsewhere rather than reduce their own emissions. Benja Faecks of Carbon Market Watch said companies should focus on direct emissions cuts rather than buying credits; Greenpeace warned that these projects risk becoming profit engines built on the backs of Indigenous communities.

The Maasai International Solidarity Alliance and other groups have called for a five‑year moratorium on such projects until independent audits can confirm environmental outcomes and protections for land rights are in place.

What to watch

Key next steps include whether independent auditors (including Verra) complete reviews of the Tanzanian project and whether promised community payments and safeguards are transparently delivered. The controversy highlights the wider tension between market‑based climate tools and Indigenous land rights.