The Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project protects a variety of ecosystems - from savanna grasslands to high elevation forests - between Tsavo East and Tsavo West National Parks in southeast Kenya. Kasigau was the first market-based, community-led forest REDD+ conservation project when it began in 2005. Today, it protects over 200,000 hectares (494,210 acres) of drylands that are home to a fantastic diversity of over 50 species of large mammals including 11,000 wild elephants, over 20 species of bats and over 300 species of birds, and important populations of IUCN Red List species such as; Grevy's Zebra, Cheetah, Lion, African Wild Dog, and over 2,000 African elephants. The foundation of the project is job creation made possible through the sale of carbon credits. Verified Emission Reductions from the project are determined by the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS). The Verified Carbon Units (VCU) generated by the project are then traded on the voluntary carbon market. The project uses revenues from VCU sales to fund infrastructure and activities that increase community well-being, such as those related to better health, jobs, and education. VCU sale proceeds also fund forest protection activities–such as hiring and training community members to patrol the forests and stop illegal logging and wildlife poaching.  This project funds social programs that impact 120,000 people and provides Kasigau Corridor community members with sustainable long-term jobs that replace unsustainable sources of income from activities such as poaching, subsistence agriculture, and illegal tree harvesting. In an area where wildlife and human survival were at odds, the project has created a market-based solution that is having a profound and lasting impact. Without the project, forests in the area would continue to be at risk of deforestation and degradation. Instead, its successful conservation efforts put the project on track to avoid the annual release of 1.7 million tonnes of CO2 emissions over the project’s 30-year life.