Mikoko Pamoja

Mangrove Ecosystem

Conserve and Restore

The first blue carbon project in the world, Mikoko Pamoja is a community-led initiative that focuses on conserving and restoring the mangrove ecosystems that surround the Gazi Bay in Kenya. The project emphasizes integration of ecosystem health and community well-being, as evidenced by its name, Mikoko Pamoja, which means “mangroves together.”

Contact:

Mark Huxham,

Founder and Convenor

m.huxham@napier.ac.uk

Ecological Benefits Targets

At the project’s outset, mangrove forests in the region were disappearing at a rate of 2.7% per year. Increasing demographic pressures, overharvesting of forests for fuelwood and building timber, and intensifying climate impacts all took a drastic toll on the vital ecosystems. Local communities depended upon the mangrove forests for wood and for the ecological roles they played in ensuring clean water, healthy fisheries, and storm protection.

Given the challenging socioeconomics of surrounding villages, conservation and restoration strategies alone were insufficient: to ensure long-term success for conservation efforts, local livelihoods and community wellbeing required equal attention. Ecotourism initiatives had languished and local terrorist activities spiked when communities tried to generate external sources of revenue. In response, the project created a holistic solution.

Air

Conservation of mangrove forests buffers coastlines from intense winds and also helps moderate ambient temperatures and water evaporation.

Water

Intact mangrove ecosystems improve water quality and provide habitats for a diverse array of aquatic species.

Soil

Mangrove root systems slow the movement of water and allow nutrient-rich sediments to settle and accumulate in soil. They also stabilize coastal soils and reduce impacts from extreme weather events.

Biodiversity

Mangroves’ expansive root systems create niches and nurseries for a variety of aquatic organisms, and their canopies provide critical habitat for a diverse array of terrestrial species.

Equity

Mikoko Pamoja invests carbon credit revenues into creating new jobs, education programs, and in local infrastructure and services. It also sets thresholds to ensure equitable opportunities for women.

Carbon

Mangrove ecosystems are renowned for their capacity to store carbon, making mangrove conservation one of the most effective “blue carbon” strategies.

Community

Operation Location: Kenya (Kwale County)

Traditional Name of Location: Gazi Bay

Area of Operation (hectares): 567

Coordinates: Ea 85’V nam CUm 80’P

Communities: Gazi and Makongeni villages

Land Tenure: All mangrove ecosystems in Kenya are owned by the government, but legal entities known as Community Forest Associations (CFAs) provide legal land tenure rights for local communities, including the “right to carbon.” Mikoko Pamoja’s CFA structure allows for integrated management of the project’s mangrove forests, including oversight of allowable activities (e.g., beekeeping, ecotourism, fuelwood collection) in specified areas. Mangrove forest usage rights are renewed on a rolling 5-year basis.

Project Development

Project Developer: Association for Coastal Ecosystem Services (ACES) – Scotland

Scientists studying the Gazi Bay area’s extraordinary mangrove ecosystems recognized that perilous ecological and social conditions in the region were interrelated. In response, the Scotland-based Association for Coastal Ecosystem Services (ACES) stepped in as a project coordinator and gathered representatives from the Gazi and Makongeni villages to form the Mikoko Pamoja Community Organization (MPCO). They continued to gather experts and resources from the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI), Kenya Forest Service (KFS), Tidal Forests of Kenya Project, and local communities to create the Mikoko Pamoja Steering Group (MPSG). Together, these groups developed a carbon credit plan using the Plan Vivo carbon standard that is adapted to the Markit registry. In 2012, their initial goal was to return at least 70% of the profits to local communities. They exceeded that goal, and today, 82% of carbon credit returns are directly infused into community-determined initiatives.

Stakeholders & Beneficiaries

The local communities, as represented in the Mikoko Pamoja Community Organization (MPCO) and the Mikoko Pamoja Steering Group (MPSG), are the primary stakeholders in conjunction with ACES, the project developer. ACES is a charity registered in Scotland dedicated to supporting communities in conserving their coastal ecosystems, particularly mangroves and seagrass. ACES is run by volunteers that possess a range of scientific and ecological skills.

State of Development

Fully Operational

Project Launch

20230101

EBF Sector

Natural

Project Type

Conserve and Restore

Credit Type

Certificates

Plan Vivo (credits are placed on Market Registry following five-year verification process)

Data PrivaCy

Yes

# of annual credits produced

7000

https://www.carbonicons.org/fingerprints/mikoko-pamoja/?background-hidden&overlay-hidden&no-blur

Air.

Clean air is vital for maintaining human health, reducing the risk of respiratory diseases, and supporting ecosystem balance and biodiversity.

While air has not been a direct focus for Mikoko Pamoja, mangrove conservation and restoration contributes to temperature regulation of air and water, while also serving as a barrier to strong winds. In addition, as the project has introduced more efficient cookstoves to reduce fuelwood consumption, these cleaner-burning stoves enhance air quality both indoors and outdoors.

Practices

(to learn more about practices, check out our podcast series)

Forest Carbon Monitoring

Conservation

Social Safeguard Monitoring

Reforestation

Erosion (reduced)

Water.

Clean and accessible water is crucial for the well-being of ecosystems, the preservation of biodiversity, and the fulfillment of essential human needs.

The conservation and restoration of mangrove forests generates multiple positive outcomes related to water through both ecological and economic impacts. Most directly, mangrove forests filter both nutrients and sediment, decreasing the chances of algal blooms and decreasing turbidity.

Practices

(to learn more about practices, check out our podcast series)

Forest Carbon Monitoring

Conservation

Social Safeguard Monitoring

Natural Filtration Systems

Reforestation

Sanitation and Hygiene

Erosion (reduced)

Aquatic Ecosystems (improved)

Soil.

Healthy soils are essential for promoting robust plant growth, enhancing nutrient cycling, supporting diverse microbial communities, and mitigating soil erosion.

The extensive rooting structures of mangrove forests act as nets, reducing water velocity and forcing sediments and nutrients to drop and accumulate. The resulting soils are rich with nutrients and organic material, and they tend to build over time. In some cases, this accumulation provides a gradual increase in elevation that protects inland soils from erosion and salinization resulting from storms and sea level rise.

Practices

(to learn more about practices, check out our podcast series)

Forest Carbon Monitoring

Conservation

Social Safeguard Monitoring

Natural Filtration Systems

Reforestation

Sanitation and Hygiene

Erosion (reduced)

Biodiversity.

Clean and accessible water is crucial for the well-being of ecosystems, the preservation of biodiversity, and the fulfillment of essential human needs.

With documented lifespans of 400-500 years, conserved mangrove ecosystems such as those surrounding Gazi Bay offer habitat stability and diversity, both for aquatic and terrestrial organisms. Restored mangrove forests expand these habitats, allowing for increased species diversity and populations. Documented increases in indicator species such as crabs demonstrate the gradual successes of the project. Mangrove ecosystems also preserve the integrity of other connected ecosystems such as seagrass and coral, and the project is investigating the impacts of seagrass on biodiversity and carbon sequestration, with an eye toward additional credit opportunities in the future.

Practices

(to learn more about practices, check out our podcast series)

Conservation

Social Safeguard Monitoring

Biodiversity Monitoring

Reforestation

Erosion (reduced)

Aquatic Ecosystems (improved)

Equity.

Supporting equity and inclusion fosters social justice, ensures equal access to resources derived from the environment, and promotes the well-being and participation of all, regardless of background or circumstances.

Mikoko Pamoja’s community-led approach has been as central and impactful for the project as carbon sequestration. Not only has the project advanced socioeconomic initiatives, it has also modeled collaborative governance structures that bring together diverse stakeholders and experts to improve the livelihoods and wellbeing of community members dependent upon the ecological integrity of shared natural resources. The minimum 40% threshold set for women’s participation led to women assuming leadership roles they might not have taken on otherwise.

Practices

(to learn more about practices, check out our podcast series)

Community Engagement and Participation

Socioeconomic Data Collection

Benefit Sharing Mechanisms

Social Safeguard Monitoring

Fair and Equitable Payment Distribution

Women’s Economic Empowerment

Improved Livelihoods

Capacity Building

Occupational Training

Carbon.

Carbon capture and storage plays a crucial role in tackling climate change, and by safeguarding the sustainability of our ecosystems, helps to ensure a thriving future for all living beings.

When Mikoko Pamoja first began, carbon benefits were projected to be 2,500 tonnes CO₂ per year, derived primarily from avoided deforestation and forest degradation, and from new plantings. Carbon credits have varied substantially from year to year due to the relationship between the successes of targeted activities and fluxes in environmental conditions. In its first decade, Mikoko Pamoja reported an average issuance of 15,676 credits per year. Revenues generated through those credits provided funding for a number of projects in the villages that likely would not have occurred otherwise. The project’s transparency and trainings help educate a diverse array of community members about the ecological and economic impacts of blue carbon initiatives, locally and globally.

Practices

(to learn more about practices, check out our podcast series)

Forest Carbon Monitoring

Conservation

Social Safeguard Monitoring

Reforestation

Erosion (reduced)

Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV)

Mikoko Pamoja’s conservation and restoration focus, framed by a blue carbon strategy, nests neatly in EBF’s Natural sector:

At its outset in 2012, the project established three primary ecological objectives: conservation of existing mangrove ecosystems, restoration of degraded mangrove ecosystems, and reforestation in previous mangrove areas. As the project unfolded, project leaders noticed that conservation and restoration efforts yielded more significant impacts than reforestation attempts, so they shifted the project emphasis to those two areas. Since then, the project’s goal has been to fund those initiatives, and to simultaneously generate revenues for surrounding communities through the sale of carbon credits derived from carbon sequestration in intact and restored mangrove forests.

[Learn more about the challenges of measurement and equity]

Primary Measurement Methods

This overview is not an endorsement or recommendation and should not be used as the basis for any investment decision.

Measurement (M)

Description

Benefits

Reporting Method (R)

Verification Type (V)

Tree Measurement

MPCO oversees initial monitoring with MPSG support. After three years, supervision shifts to verification checks. KMFRI forestry technicians independently assess two indicators annually, ensuring data accuracy and reliability.

Air.

Water.

Soil.

Biodiversity.

Equity.

Carbon.

Self-Reported

Raw Data

On-Blockchain

Standards & Certifications

Third-Party Verified

Registry

Crab Counts

KMFRI will use its research capacity to train community members on participatory monitoring and reporting of environmental and biodiversity impacts. The results of the monitoring will be reported annually following Plan Vivo Guidelines.

Air.

Water.

Soil.

Biodiversity.

Equity.

Carbon.

Self-Reported

Raw Data

On-Blockchain

Standards & Certifications

Third-Party Verified

Registry

New Planting

Monitoring is arranged and recorded by the MPCO. After the first three years, supervision will be replaced by verification checks, with a team of KMFRI forestry technicians tasked to make an independent assessment of two of the indicators per year.

Air.

Water.

Soil.

Biodiversity.

Equity.

Carbon.

Self-Reported

Raw Data

On-Blockchain

Standards & Certifications

Third-Party Verified

Registry

Stump Counts

Mikoko Pamoja monitors stumps and stocking rates twice yearly with active involvement from the local community. Stumps encountered are mostly old, forest attributes exceed baseline, and no illegal harvesting has occurred, indicating forest recovery.

Air.

Water.

Soil.

Biodiversity.

Equity.

Carbon.

Self-Reported

Raw Data

On-Blockchain

Standards & Certifications

Third-Party Verified

Registry

Measurements

Carbon credits for the project are based on accepted scientific calculations of carbon sequestered in comparable intact mangrove ecosystems. This data is correlated with the existing baseline conditions at the project sites to model anticipated carbon sequestration, and carbon credits are then based on those projections. To determine the accuracy of those projections, annual monitoring includes tree and stump counts, forest growth measurements, and other low-cost data collection methods. These methods align with the requirements of Plan Vivo, the carbon standard framework used by the project.

Mangrove trees and their ecosystems provide many benefits beyond carbon, including improvement of water quality, wildlife habitat, diverse fisheries, sediment capture, and storm protection. All of those benefits yield positive impacts for the surrounding communities as well, and they also add to the quality and integrity of Mikoko Pamoja’s carbon credits.

Nonetheless, a lack of funding and technical resources have thus far prevented the project from adding additional credits for air, soil, water, biodiversity, and equity, even though the project is already gathering information related to those benefits. Measurement, recording, and verification for each benefit requires protocols, technology, and human resources that are out of financial reach for the project’s current revenues.

Reporting

Plan Vivo carbon standards provide a framework well-suited for Mikoko Pamoja’s needs and resources. Detailed scientific protocols align with the project’s financial and technological capacities, balancing integrity in data collection with modest resources, allowing the project to utilize Excel spreadsheet documentation and cloud-based data sharing. Although the technologies employed are somewhat basic, project leaders also want to ensure that the data they do collect is accessible and understandable to the communities involved in the project.

While some data is collected for benefits other than carbon, access to technology and the costs associated with measurement and monitoring limit the development of additional credits up to this point. Nonetheless, project leaders and the twenty-year contract both allow for adaptation of protocols that best meet the needs of the targeted ecosystems and surrounding communities.

Verification

Forest data is collected annually and is audited by Kenyan officials. Equity data related to socioeconomic conditions is also collected and verified annually. Data related to other ecological benefits such as biodiversity improvements (e.g., crab counts and seagrass inventories) are reviewed and verified every five years. Further verification is not currently financially feasible.

Data for forest protection and prescribed tree plantings are reviewed annually with a “traffic signal” protocol to determine whether an area: met the targeted thresholds and will receive full payment (green), fell slightly short of the targets and will receive 50% of the contracted payment (amber), or failed to meet the base minimum target and will receive no payment (red).

Risk

Project developers face two contrasting tasks: designing a project that lays out plausible, positive outcomes, and simultaneously assessing the risks of unexpected or undesirable circumstances. Weather events, civil unrest, and changing market conditions are just a few of the factors that can transform a good idea into financial quagmire.

The collaborators who designed the Mikoko Pamoja project confronted multiple scenarios that could potentially endanger the project’s success. They took into account the region’s economic insecurity, political instability, climate change and other uncertainties and embedded those possibilities into their calculations and design to address three key concerns: permanence, leakage, and additionality.

Permanence

Mikoko Pamoja employs a unique approach to risk management for permanence by investing returns into the communities that rely heavily upon healthy mangrove forests. The impact of a 20-year contract may extend well beyond the contract’s life if community members are invested in and clearly benefiting from intact mangrove ecosystems. Mangrove trees can live 400 years or more, so investments in these ecosystems are, to some degree, ecologically durable, presuming the threats of detrimental human activities and intensifying climate changes are mitigated.

The potential devaluation or disappearance of carbon payments would certainly introduce challenges, given the negative impacts to the communities involved. Deterioration of socioeconomic realities within local communities will likely lead to degradation of surrounding mangrove forests due to collection of fuelwood and building materials, and due to illegal activities related to logging, fishing, and poaching.

Additionality

The innovative nature of Mikoko Pamoja addresses any additionality concerns. Without the project’s twin interventions into community-led ecosystem conservation and additional revenue streams, the degradation of this world-renowned ecosystem would almost certainly have continued at its prior estimated loss of 2.7% per year.

Leakage

Mangrove ecosystems and community wellbeing are monitored on a regular basis. Forest carbon stocks and local socioeconomic conditions are measured annually, while soil, water, and biodiversity conditions are measured every 5 years. The project provides a 15% leakage buffer for its carbon stock projections. Perhaps more importantly, it created a designated woodlot for community fuelwood extraction to minimize impacts on conserved areas.

Market

Credit payments and charitable donations support Mikoko Pamoja’s project oversight and implementation, as well as payments to participating communities. No brokers are involved in the project’s marketing; credits are negotiated directly with buyers under the auspices of the Plan Vivo standards. Mikoko Pamoja vets buyers to prevent greenwashing that might impact the integrity of their credits. All purchases are made directly to maximize transparency and trust between buyers and sellers, and to avoid the cost of intermediaries.

ACES sells the credits, receives the funds, and covers its internal costs and those associated with the verification of standards. Funds are then moved to the community organization (MPCO), which pays its employees, covers programmatic expenses, and allocates funds to the initiatives prioritized by community members.

Eventually, the credits will be placed on the Markit registry, but that requires an in-depth and costly five-year verification process that is currently underway. The contract with Plan Vivo has a twenty-year duration, a timeframe determined appropriate for project implementation and the accrual of ecological benefits. The contract allows for adaptive changes to the Project Design Document (PDD), based on lessons learned, during each of the five-year verification and renewal processes.