Public pilot project · KE
RNBS Kenya Prosopis Restoration and Biochar Pilot
Project narrative
RNBS Kenya is developing a decentralised system for converting invasive Prosopis into traceable biochar while protecting indigenous Acacia, restoring affected land, creating local income, and supporting agricultural trials. ReChar records project rights, community decisions, biomass chain of custody, production batches, field applications, evidence, and post-impact outcomes. No conservation value is registered until the claimed result has passed Proof of Conservation, independent technical validation, legal-sufficiency review, and registrar determination.
- Operator
- RNBS Kenya Biochar
- Project lead
- Nawaz Khan — Founder and CEO
- Geography
- Activities associated with Kiborgoch, Shompole, Kamuthe, Garissa, Tana River, Marigat, Mogotio, and a confidential agricultural trial site (public detail redacted)
Map (reduced precision)
Approximate centre only (±50.00 km). Precise farm and source coordinates are restricted.
Public pin: 0.45, 36.1 (approximate)
Sites named in narrative: Kiborgoch, Shompole, Kamuthe, Garissa, Tana River, Marigat, Mogotio, and confidential trial locations.
Operating model
Community or land access → selective Prosopis harvesting → bagging or batch formation → weighing → movement permission → transport → field kiln or retort → production cycle → biochar batch → aggregation → sale or delivery → agricultural application or durable storage → monitoring.
Reported metrics
Reported values remain subject to source reconciliation, independent validation, and legal review.
| Metric | Value | Evidence status |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 movement or production records | Approximately 190 tonnes | Document supported |
| Additional unrecorded output | Approximately 10–20 tonnes | Claimant reported |
| Estimated total 2025 output | Approximately 210 tonnes | Claimant reported |
| Claimed CO₂-equivalent result | Approximately 400 tCO₂e | Claimant reported |
| Claimed production cost | Approximately US$150/tCO₂e | Claimant reported |
| Claimed accessible Prosopis resource | Approximately 120 million tonnes | Claimant reported |
| Kiborgoch clearing | More than 200 acres | Claimant reported |
| Prosopis infestation near KamutheDisputed range | Conflicting estimates, approximately 78,000–250,000 acres | Claimant reported |
| First reported biochar sale | Four tonnes at US$220 per tonne | Claimant reported |
| Later reported dispatch | Approximately 1.5 tonnes | Claimant reported |
| Later planting-trial delivery | Approximately one tonne | Claimant reported |
PoC progress
POC-RNBS-2025-DRAFT
Status: draft
Multi-claim draft — not submitted for registration.
- A. Invasive Prosopis removalProposed
- B. Protection of indigenous AcaciaProposed
- C. Biochar productionProposed
- D. Durable applicationProposed
- E. Greenhouse-gas effectClaimant reported
- F. Land restorationProposed
- G. Community livelihoodProposed
Open requirements
15 open evidence gaps (blocking registration)
- • Signed community and landholder rights instruments
- • Defined ownership of biomass, biochar, and conservation outcomes
- • Complete project polygons and treatment-line coordinates
- • Source-to-application chain-of-custody records
- • Calibrated mass and moisture measurements
- • Production-cycle and emissions data
- • Laboratory biochar analysis
- • Documented baseline and untreated control plots
- …and 7 more
Community governance (SNI draft)
Draft Shared Negatrope Instrument for community conservation restraint and Prosopis-only harvest. Subordinate to any future registered Negatrope. Not itself a registration.
Subordinate to any future registered Negatrope — not itself a registration.
Public risk summary
Distrust from prior carbon-project exploitation
Community trust risk from historical carbon projects
Tokenistic community allocations
Benefit-sharing must be transparent and material
Politically sensitive large farms
Some sites require confidentiality and careful disclosure
Disputed land tenure / customary overlap
Tenure clarity required before registration
Informal charcoal trade and leakage
Leakage into informal charcoal markets
Permit inconsistency and road harassment
Movement documentation incomplete in places
Risk of cutting indigenous Acacia
Strict Prosopis-only harvest discipline required
Uncontrolled burning / re-ignition of biochar
Process controls and extinguishing methods needed
Unsupported carbon factors and permanence
CO₂e claims pending independent methodology review
Incomplete baseline and control plots
Baseline and controls incomplete
Limited buyer demand and working capital
Commercial offtake remains uncertain
Selected approved photographs
Captions do not create measured quantities. Location/date claimant supplied unless confirmed.
PHOTO-2025-11-18-23-07-28.jpg
Restored burn area with vegetation and flowering groundcover
Restoration evidenceClaimant reportedPHOTO-2025-11-18-22-09-14.jpg
Field worksite with metal kiln, biomass, bag, operators
Production evidenceClaimant reportedcd381c5b-b3c2-4cd1-9845-67423464ceb2.png
Sisal trial rows with field observer
Trial overviewClaimant reported
Chain-of-custody snapshot (participant detail on authenticated project page): 2 biomass batches · 1 biochar batches.
Public Negatrope Registry · Sign in for full pilot workspace