REDD activities in Tanzania have been financially supported mainly by Norway. Approxi mately 40% of the funds have been allocated to pilot projects in nine districts, which were implemented not by government, but by NGOs. This decision by the Norwegian Embassy was taken partly in the interest of speedy implementation, but also because of recent problems of government corruption. This paper—based on case studies from Kilosa, Kilwa and Kondoa—assesses the implications of allocating local government only a minimal role. The focus is on the building of REDD governance structures; more specifically their input legitimacy (parti cip ation, transparency and accountability) and output legitimacy (effectiveness, efficiency and equity). The conclusion is that the NGOs generally implemented the pilot projects as contracted, but that local government has lost the opportunity to gain experience and develop the compe tence needed to implement REDD in the future and ensure its longer-term sustainability.