Blue Carbon Feasibility Assessment for Mangrove Conservation and Restoration in Nampula, Mozambique
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is working with the Mozambiquan Ministry of Sea, Inland Waters and Fisheries (MIMAIP), which has a MoU in place to support the Government in marine conservation activities, including the “Building a Blue Future for Ecosystems and People on the East African Coast” project, for coastal conservation in Mozambique. This project aims to develop and submit to the Mozambican Government a proposal for creating a new, sustainable-use Marine Protected Area (MPA) in coastal area of Memba and Mossuril Districts, Nampula Province, which will include a network of community-managed fishing areas. Performance-based payments for greenhouse gas emission reductions and removals that result from project activities offer a potential opportunity for financing ecosystem protection and restoration within the proposed MPA, either at a broader scale or to support communities within or around the MPA.
The Landscapes and Livelihoods Group (TLLG) carried out a pre-feasibility assessment for a mangrove carbon project in the coastal areas between the southern border of Cabo Delgado Province to the north, and the southern border of Lunga District to the south in Memba and Mossuril Districts, Nampula Province, that identified the potential for a carbon project based on mangrove protection and/or restoration in the proposed project area.
A full feasibility assessment was then carried out to estimate the potential volume of carbon certificates that could be generated by the project; and the transaction costs associated with carbon project development, validation, monitoring, reporting and verification; and to identify areas that would need to be addressed through project development. The feasibility assessment included:
An assessment of legal context within which a mangrove carbon project could be developed;
An assessment of stakeholder engagement activities that would be needed for development of a mangrove carbon project;
Estimates of potential to generate carbon credits from mangrove protection and restoration activities;
An initial assessment of environmental and social risks that would need to be managed in a mangrove carbon project, and risks to non-permanence of carbon benefits; and
A high-level assessment of potential income from carbon credit sales, balanced against project implementation and carbon credit transaction costs.
Photo: Blue Action Fund and KfW visit WCS-led Blue Future project area © WCS Mozambique
Client: WCS Mozambique
Funder: Blue Action Fund
Location: Nampula, Mozambique
Period: Nov 2022 to Jan 2024