Indigenous pastoralists file legal case against the Northern Kenya Grassland Carbon project in Kenya

Indigenous People want control over their own lands, accountability from Northern Rangelands Trust, and transparency on carbon project funds.

The conservation organisation Northern Rangelands Trust in Kenya faces another lawsuit. More than 30 members of Indigenous communities from Biliqo Bulesa have filed a legal case against the Northern Kenya Grassland Carbon project, run by Northern Rangelands Trust on their land.

According to Northern Rangelands Trust, the project is the world’s largest soil carbon removal project. The project has sold carbon credits to Netflix, Meta, British Airways, Kering, and Beiersdorf. In total, the project has sold almost 6.2 million carbon credits, which The Wall Street Journal estimates are worth somewhere between US$42 million and US$90 million, depending on the price.

In a statement, Survival International notes that,

This is the second lawsuit by Indigenous communities against NRT, and the first directly challenging its carbon project, and reflects the growing resistance to the organization, its partners and funders.

Northern Rangelands Trust has set up a series of what it calls “Community Conservancies”. These are established on land that Indigenous pastoralists have been using for generations. Biliqo Bulesa is one of these conservancies and it contributes about 20% of the carbon credits generated by the carbon project.

Local human rights activist Jilo Buke told Survival International that,

“NRT is reducing local leaders to symbolic bystanders to fake community consent for carbon markets. Ancestral lands are commercialised for global offsets while NRT retains absolute, opaque control over all generated funds. The carbon credit project is systematically diminishing the lives and survival of pastoralists, trading their ancestral heritage and daily existence for the corporate and institutional interests of NRT.”

“Dangerous greenwashing”

The Northern Kenya Grassland Carbon project is one of the most controversial carbon projects anywhere in the world. In 2023, Survival International published a report into the project that exposed major flaws with the project.

“This project is not just dangerous greenwashing, it’s blood carbon,” Survival International’s Fiore Longo said, “NRT is making money by destroying the way of life of those least responsible for climate change.”

In 2025, the Environment and Land Court at Isiolo ruled that Biliqo Bulesa Community Conservancy and another NRT conservancy had been illegally and unconstitutionally established. An appeal to that case is ongoing.

The new case has been brought to the same court and directly challenges the Northern Kenya Grassland Carbon project.

Verra, the Washington DC-based carbon certifying company, has suspended the project twice. The first time followed Survival International’s report and the second time followed the 2025 court ruling. In June 2026, Verra reinstated the project. Indigenous People accuse Northern Rangeland Trust of “tricks and dishonest dealings,” Survival International reports.

The new legal case

In the new legal case, the plaintiffs are claiming back control over their lands. They are demanding accountability from Northern Rangelands Trust. And they are demanding full transparency on where the money from the sale of carbon credits actually goes.

Survival International writes that,

The plaintiffs say that NRT converted their land into a conservancy and enrolled it in the carbon project without their free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC), generating millions in revenue from the sale of carbon credits. They request transparent information about the money derived from indigenous lands, and say that NRT “hijacked” Indigenous conservation practices. The plaintiffs further argue that NRT controlled grazing, restricted pastoral livelihoods, and deployed armed rangers accused of intimidation, harassment, and violence.

The plaintiffs are also concerned that the Biliqo Bulesa Conservancy received funding from the EU, USAID, and DANIDA despite operating illegally on Indigenous lands.

In a statement, Survival International’s director, Caroline Pearce, says,

“These plaintiffs and their lawyers are standing firm despite threats and intimidation. They are showing that real climate justice is about them – and not NRT and multi-million-dollar CO₂ deals. Anyone tempted to buy credits from this project in an attempt to act ‘climate neutral’ should ask themselves: Am I paying for the climate – or for a fraudulent label on stolen land?”