Building Blue Carbon Projects - An Introductory Guide

8.2 Mikoko Pamoja - Community-led Mangrove Carbon Conservation Project in Kenya

Located 65 kilometres south of Mombassa, Kenya, Gazi Bay is home to several villages surrounding a mangrove forest. Local communities depend on the mangroves for wood (e.g. building poles and firewood) and non-wood forest products as well as services such as seafood, and traditional medicine. However, the mangroves have been extensively degraded since the 1970s, through commercial logging and conversion of mangrove habitat to other uses, particularly agriculture and coastal development. Loss of

Figure 10 Mikoko Pamoja project site in Kenya (Plan Vivo, 2010).

mangroves has led to shortages of firewood and building materials, a decline in fisheries, and increased coastal erosion. Hence, there is an urgent need for the rehabilitation, conservation, and sustainable use of the mangroves at Gazi Bay. Gazi Bay is the site of the Mikoko Pamoja project (Figure 10), the first community-led mangrove conservation project to be certified for carbon finance by the voluntary carbon market. Project activities include, mangrove conservation, reforestation of degraded areas, and reduced impact logging in an area covering 107 hectares. The estimated 3,000 tons CO 2 -equivalent of carbon credits carbon credits generated through the project are sold into the voluntary carbon market; generating approximately U.S. $12,000 per annum to the local community. Partners of the Mikoko Pamoja project (translated as “mangroves together”) include: Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI), the project host and lead government institution; Aviva, a multinational insurance company and the project funder; Earthwatch Institute, a volunteer organization; Edinburgh Napier University, a research institution; and other Kenyan government institutions and local stakeholders. The Mikoko Pamoja project is verified under the Plan Vivo Standard, a framework for supporting communities to manage their natural resources more sustainably, with a view to generating climate, livelihood, and ecosystem benefits through payments for ecosystem services - in this case carbon. The project was initiated in June 2010, and in October 2013 it was officially given permission to start operations by the Kenyan Government through the issuing of a Forest Management Agreement to the Gazi Bay community, and the project is currently awaiting certification by Plan Vivo. Payments for mangrove carbon are expected to be realised in 2014.

Building Blue Carbon Projects An Introductory Guide

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