The socio-cultural value of mangroves by Dr Dencer-Brown

10/12/2024 by Amber Baker in Conservation / Financing / Natural Capital

The contents of this blog were written by Dr Imi Dencer-Brown and are presented by Amber Baker. Imi is on the ACES Board of Trustees and has studied mangroves and their cultural value in New Zealand as part of her doctoral research. Imi is a mixed methods researcher and lecturer in education working in cross-disciplinary spaces specifically with people and nature.

This blog was written as part of our ‘Conservation’ series which showcases people in conservation and explores upcoming projects and trends.

The socio-cultural value of mangroves – what’s it all about and why is it important?

“When we think of mangrove ecosystem services, we normally relate them to some of the more tangible concepts, such as the provisioning services of food and clean water for both humans and nature. We may also recognise their importance as regulating services, in the roles of flood prevention and protecting against storm damage. As the effects of climate change take their toll on ecosystems worldwide, we understand the plethora of positive attributes these intertidal forests provide, in particular, the enormous below-ground carbon storage capacity of mangroves, in the form of blue carbon.

Lesser known is the socio-cultural value of mangroves. The complexity of human existence and relationships with nature has been little explored in the large body of work of mangrove science, even though it may be pivotal to the deeper recognition of the socio-ecological importance of these ecosystems. Cultural services may include aspects such as cultural identity, sense of home, aesthetic inspiration and a spiritual experience in relation to the natural environment¹. As some of these elements are intangible and complex to explain or quantify, it means that this area of research in relation to mangroves is under-researched and poorly understood.

There is such variation in the location of mangroves globally, which range from the United States such as Louisiana and Florida and the Japanese islands of Okinawa and Kyushu in the North, to the most southerly mangrove stands in New Zealand and South Australia. This variation in species and differing levels of degradation mean that humans interact with mangroves in different ways, based on their community needs and societal importance.”

Take New Zealand, for instance…

“Take New Zealand, for instance. Home to a monoculture of estuarine Avicennia marina subsp. australasica. Many of these stands are dwarf mangroves, growing and expanding in harbours and estuaries due to increases in nutrient levels brought about by urbanisation and farming practices. Many people regard these trees as a nuisance, nothing more than weeds, which have obscured the views of the beautiful beaches they had once enjoyed out of their windows.

Their ecological value is not recognised in many cases, making the relationship between humans and nature strained and not positive.”

“Previously, in New Zealand, mangroves were utilised for boat building and recognised as a valuable habitat for kaimoana (seafood) for local iwi (Māori communities).

Whilst some recognition of this may remain, the lack of utilisation and co-existing with mangroves in New Zealand has created a disconnection to nature and with it, a lack of understanding of the intrinsic value of this habitat.”

“Whilst New Zealand might be a very particular case of lack of socio-cultural integration with this ecosystem, many communities in the world do recognise the importance of this habitat to many aspects of human life., however, this has not prevented deforestation and degradation of mangroves globally due to anthropogenic activities such as replacement for aquaculture farms, construction of hotels, urbanisation and overexploitation of wood without sustainable forestry practices.”

Value and monetary value

“We tend to measure the value of goods and services provided by nature in monetary terms, this socio-economic value may be useful in driving forward conservation practices to restore and protect mangroves.”

“Kenyan mangroves are said to be worth around 82 million pounds (200, 473.93 KSH/ha²). Whilst this is an impressive number – what does it actually mean? Where does the money go and how does it benefit local communities? ”

– Dr. Imi Dencer-Brown

“Whilst valuing mangroves as a commodity in this way may influence policy on their conservation, it may not change understanding and awareness of this ecosystem, especially for the local people of the areas who have the closest relationship with mangroves.

In Kenya, the main drivers for loss are the excessive removal of wood for charcoal burning, fishing stakes, fencing and fuelwood, as well as conversion of areas for salt mining and settlement and coastal development. It is recognised in Kenya that poverty, inequalities, lack of education and poor governance have underpinned these losses.³

Communities living close to mangroves and have a high dependency on them for their livelihoods may have a greater cultural connection with these ecosystems and therefore have a high potential to work with conserving mangroves as they directly relate to their livelihoods.

The ongoing success of Mikoko Pamoja and Vanga Blue Forests projects in Kenya has been largely due to the direct stakeholder engagement with conserving these areas and seeing directly how improving the quality of habitat has a positive effect on livelihoods.

For instance, this may be in the form of increased numbers of juvenile fish using the mangroves as a nursery, which in turn allows for larger fisheries yields offshore, creating more sustainable income for families.”

“Mangroves are a cultural fabric to coastal communities, they support our livelihoods and beliefs, protect our homes and lands, and unite us with bordering communities.”
– Mwanarusi Mwafrica, Previous Project Coordinator for Vanga Blue Forest

“Realising the importance and value that mangroves have for communities and respecting and upholding social justice frameworks to empower these communities to conserve and protect mangroves is a necessary step for the sustainable use of and long-term presence of this precious ecosystem in an evermore volatile world.”

We thank Imi for this blog and their insights on the importance of socio-cultural value of ecosystems, drawing from their experience and research in New Zealand. Like many plants that are often considered weeds or pests – based in Scotland, I am thinking of the humble dandelion – mangroves can be viewed in this negative light but upon further inspection, mangroves and other often overlooked species can provide valuable benefits to people and nature. – Amber

Meet a mangrove champion by Prof. Mark Huxham

22/08/2024 by Amber Baker in Conservation / Financing / Natural Capital

The content of this blog was written by Professor Mark Huxham and is presented by Amber Baker. Mark is the founder and chair of ACES and has spent nearly two decades working with local communities dependent on mangrove resources to understand their ecosystems better and to use this science to help restore their environments and bring community development benefits.

This blog was written as part of our ‘Conservation’ series which showcases people in conservation and explores upcoming projects and trends.

Meet a mangrove champion, a conversation between Mark and Ansumana

ACES is a proud partner in Nnaa Saama Mankolou, our new project working with the community of Sankandi in The Gambia to restore their mangrove sites and help support livelihoods and biodiversity in the area.

Mr Ansumana Darboe (pictured left, photo (c) Dona Bertarelli Philanthropy) is a founding member of the Sankandi Youth Development Association, our key in-country collaborator in this project.

He has an infectious passion for conservation and for mangroves and has been instrumental in making the project happen; he first contacted Mark seven years ago, seeking help from ACES, and we have worked together since then. Here, Mark and Ansumana talk about his background, his motivations and his hopes for the future.

Mark: tell me where you were born and a little about your early life

Ansumana: I was born in Sankandi [the village where Ansumana lives still]. My father was a farmer, as was my grandfather. He died in 1984 when I was a little boy. As a child I had to assist my mum in cultivating her rice fields and protecting them from wild animals, like monkeys and birds, until the time of harvest. I had to be at the fields by 7 am. Then when the time comes for lunch the adults sent me to go and collect lunch from home and then bring it back to the rice field for them, because the fields were far from my home.

Mark: and did you combine all this work with going to school?

Ansumana: yes I was enlisted in the school and started my primary education, but at the beginning it was tough because my mum wanted me to go to Arabic school instead of, you know, conventional school. So she did not always support my schooling. In the early years I had to go to school without lunch, and in fact, I did my primary school without a uniform.

Mark: so it sounds as if you were motivated even as a young boy to learn and to develop?

Ansumana: yes I had to struggle. I started as a local volunteer in a medical clinic whilst still at school. That led to opportunities for work and training as a medical assistant. Eventually, I was supported to train as a radiographer and so that was my profession until 2009.

Mark: so how did you become interested in conservation and in mangroves?

Ansumana: back in primary school, in 1994, I was invited to read a poem at the opening ceremony for a new national park [Kiang West National Park]. The poem was about conservation and the need to look after our forests; I learned it by heart and it still serves as a motivation for me.

Mark: how did you start Sankandi Youth Development Association?

Ansumana: in 2005 the president came through our village. I wanted to escort his car to where he was going, but the driver said ‘no no it is too far, we are going five kilometers’. But me and other youths insisted on going all the way on foot with him. When he arrived he was so impressed he gave us some money in thanks. We used that money to found the Youth Association.

© SYDA – Ansumana Darboe – SYDA Project Manager

Mark: and why did you start work on mangroves?

Ansumana: the local fishermen were finding that they could no longer find fish so we decided to look how best we could help them and restore the areas where they fish. So I did some research on mangroves and mangrove restoration in Africa.

Mark: and that is how you found out about ACES?

Ansumana: yes I came across an article that was written by you and then how you spearheaded the Mikoko Pamoja project and then I clicked on your email and thought yeah let me just talk to Mark and see whether we will be in a position for another mangrove project in the Gambia.

Mark: and now after some years we have managed to find funding for this work and are in a position to work together on this new project. What are your hopes for the future from this work together?

Ansumana: Well, my hopes for this project is for it to be modelled and replicated in all parts of the Gambia and let other communities benefit directly from the work they have been doing. And in fact, maybe it can be used by the government to help with their carbon policy.

Mark: and finally, do you have any advice for anybody who may be reading this, who perhaps is in a similar situation to you?

Ansumana: my advice would be for them to reach out because there are experts who will help. You need to make sure that your project will really benefit local people and make sure that you are able to take ownership of your mangrove restoration project.

© Dona Bertarelli Philanthropy. Mark and Ansumana (pictured) discussed the partnership and project during the community meeting in January 2024 in Sankandi, The Gambia.

You can find out more about Ansumana, the Sankandi Youth Development Association, and the Nna Saama Mankolou project on the ACES website SYDA’s social media pages.

Ocean Bottle: Supporting blue carbon beyond offsetting

31/05/2023 by Robyn Shilland in 2023 Blue Carbon series / Financing / Natural Capital

This blog was written in collaboration with Ocean Bottle, who have supported ACES’ projects for several years as part of their commitment to improving the health of the ocean and our planet. This blog was written as part of our ‘financing blue carbon ethically, responsibly and effectively’ series and explores different approaches to compensating for corporate carbon footprints and supporting marine conservation.

Ocean Bottle have supported ACES’ mangrove and seagrass projects for several years as part of their commitment to making the ocean, and our world, a better place. Ocean Bottle’s approach to sustainability goes beyond carbon calculations and ‘net zero’; that equating carbon emissions to offset purchases is inadequate. In line with this ethos, they are moving beyond carbon offsetting to a holistic approach to carbon reductions and developing carbon sinks by protecting natural ecosystems such as mangrove forests and seagrass meadows. This blog, written in collaboration with Ocean Bottle, explains the reasoning behind their strategy for emissions reductions and compensating for their unavoidable emissions. Ocean Bottle’s reasons for moving away from offsets include ethical, political and technical challenges to offsetting as a concept and the current offsetting landscape; this reasoning is described well in this document. Here, we focus on the political ethics of carbon offsetting, which raises important questions regarding how the offsetting landscape can be improved in order to incentivise systemic change.

The perspectives presented here are Ocean Bottle’s; however, as ACES, we welcome debate around carbon offsetting and support Ocean Bottle in their emissions reduction strategy. We are pleased to be able to continue working with Ocean Bottle on the development of blue carbon conservation and restoration activities in a way that goes beyond carbon credits.

Emissions reduction strategy

Ocean Bottle’s Emissions Reductions strategy follows three pillars: first by implementing emission reductions through their supply chain, then avoiding emissions in their value chain, and when necessary, developing carbon sinks by protecting natural ecosystems outside of their value chain. This follows the Carbone 4 emissions reductions framework.

While this framework is broadly similar to the ideal scenario for offsetting – reducing your scope 1 & 2 emissions, then scope 3 emissions, followed by offsetting or insetting unavoidable emissions – the biggest differences lie in pillar C.

Firstly, under Carbone 4’s framework, unavoidable (or residual) emissions should be compensated for through the development of carbon sinks such as blue carbon ecosystems. This is similar to ‘removal credits’ – carbon credits that result from the removal of CO2 from the atmosphere – but does not allow an equivalent to ‘reduction credits’ – credits which result from the reduction of CO2 entering the atmosphere. (It is important to note here that removal credits are also sometimes valued and preferred over reduction credits – such as in the Oxford Offsetting Principles).

Secondly, Carbone 4’s framework does not specify that offsets should be used to compensate for unavoidable emissions; it allows for a broader approach to funding activities that enhance natural carbon sinks. This is where Ocean Bottle’s perspective has changed from buying carbon offsets to a more holistic approach to enhancing blue carbon sinks.

Choosing carbon sinks over offsets

If Ocean Bottle are committed to funding the development of carbon sinks like mangroves and seagrass, why are they moving away from offsetting?

Offsetting as a concept has been heavily scrutinised, and the debate around the politics and ethics of offsetting has divided opinion. Critics of offsetting question whether offsetting allows society to delay making systemic changes – i.e., actual carbon reductions – by simply paying for offsets to compensate for carbon emissions. Whilst the morally responsible approach should be to first reduce your direct and indirect emissions as far as possible – as outlined in Carbone 4’s framework – there is nothing to mandate companies to do so (or indeed, to reduce or offset their emissions at all). Likewise, there is no regulation of how companies present or communicate their carbon reductions – a company that offsets all of their emissions without making reductions can report the same emissions reduction targets as a company that has made genuine carbon reductions in their own activities and supply chains (and has therefore contributed to systemic change). Actors in the offsetting market, including ACES, can and do take voluntary steps to guard against this injustice; however, Ocean Bottle’s perspective is that they do not want to play a part in a system that permits less ethical companies to take advantage of unregulated emissions reductions and reporting.

“The reporting and carbon reduction strategy enforcements vary from country to country, but are, for the most part, only voluntary. This means that sub-par efforts and greenwashing by the world’s largest emitters will largely go unpunished.”

– Ocean Bottle

This raises an important question: what can be done to hold companies to account on their emissions reductions and offsetting (or other mitigation actions)? How can companies with genuine commitments to actually reducing their emissions, offsetting only their unavoidable emissions and if they do need to offset, researching their options and choosing high-quality credits with evidenced co-benefits – from companies that simply ‘pay to pollute’ by offsetting without reducing? There needs to be a clear, internationally-aligned reporting system under which consumers can scrutinise the steps that companies are taking to lower their carbon footprints, and thereby hold these companies to account. This would be a significant step towards facilitating systemic change – publicly rewarding companies like Ocean Bottle that go above and beyond to not only compensate for their emissions but have a positive impact through supporting projects that deliver biodiversity and community benefits.

Net zero: a global concept

By definition, a company cannot be carbon neutral… A better terminology which companies and individuals should follow, is to contribute to global neutrality with the purchase of offsets and other mechanisms.”
– Ocean Bottle

When the concept of ‘net zero’ was popularised in the conception of the Paris Agreement, it referred to global emissions – achieving an overall balance of sources and sinks of global greenhouse gases. It is only more recently that the term ‘net zero’ has been used by companies as a label of their emissions reductions or offsetting. Ocean Bottle, among others, believe that the concepts of net zero or carbon neutrality cannot be claimed by individual companies unless they are actively sinking carbon from the atmosphere – if they are still producing emissions then they are still a carbon ‘source’, regardless of offsets. Ocean Bottle suggest that rather than making ‘net zero’ or ‘carbon neutral’ claims, companies should use terminology such as “contributing to global neutrality with the purchase of offsets and other mechanisms”. They believe that not being able to trumpet about self-proclaimed neutrality will deter most companies from relying on offsets.

ACES perspective

Ocean Bottle’s approach to their emissions reductions is a gold-standard example of how companies can meaningfully engage with the climate crisis and their role in fighting it. They have critically questioned their own activities, including their emissions reduction activities so far, and shaped their way forwards based on extensive research and evidence-based perspectives.

Whilst their full reasoning for minimising their use of offsets is not always fully aligned with ACES’ views, we welcome debate regarding the ethics, politics, effectiveness and social justice of offsetting and our partnership with Ocean Bottle allows us to present this diversity of views on an open platform. Ultimately, we and Ocean Bottle share the same end goal: to contribute to a landscape in which climate action by companies is transparent, genuine, effective and socially and environmentally just.

Philanthropy and climate change: A conversation with Impatience Earth

05/05/2023 by Robyn Shilland in 2023 Blue Carbon series / Conservation / Financing / Natural Capital / Uncategorized

Impatience Earth is a pro-bono climate philanthropy consultancy that educates, challenges and inspires wealth holders to take bolder funding decisions to address the climate emergency.

We interviewed Yasmin Ahammad, the Co-Managing Director of Impatience Earth to gather her insights on climate philanthropy and understand what influences donors when they are considering which projects to fund.

Here’s what Yasmin had to say…

1. What motivates philanthropists and foundations to fund projects that tackle climate change?

The public’s awareness of the climate crisis has skyrocketed in recent years, thanks to the tireless efforts of climate activists and the growing coverage of alarming IPCC research findings. As heat waves scorch entire cities and floods devastate communities, the reality of climate change hits closer to home more than ever before. Urgency has become the driving force for philanthropic donors to invest in the fight against climate change, and their support is crucial to creating the change and momentum we need.

At Impatience Earth, donors typically approach us with a keen understanding that the climate crisis is the most pressing issue of our time. They recognize that the impact of climate change will undo many of the gains made in other areas such as health, education, conservation, social justice, and human rights. These individuals, foundations, and companies feel a collective responsibility to act while there is still time to avoid the worst climate scenarios. They may support climate change as a new strand of their grant-making or incorporate it as a lens through which they view their existing projects.

“We have seen a particular interest in mangrove and other blue carbon projects like seagrass and saltmarshes, because it is easy to understand the numerous co-benefits of investing in such nature-based solutions.”

Why philanthropy and what inspires philanthropists right now?

Philanthropy is uniquely positioned to act because it can provide the seed capital for bold and innovative movements, ideas, and initiatives to experiment, scale, and thrive. Unlike government or corporate institutions, philanthropy can afford to take risks and fund projects flexibly and nimbly, filling critical gaps in support.

We have seen a particular interest in mangrove and other blue carbon projects like seagrass and saltmarshes, because it is easy to understand the numerous co-benefits of investing in such nature-based solutions. Donors focused on reducing carbon emissions are attracted by the carbon sequestration potential of mangroves and seagrasses, while those who are passionate about biodiversity are motivated to protect and restore coastal ecosystems for the benefit of marine species. Donors with a focus on building community resilience find mangroves appealing as a natural barrier to disastrous storm surges and coastal erosion, and as a source of livelihood opportunities through eco-tourism, healthy fisheries and potential access to carbon markets.

“We have seen a particular interest in mangrove and other blue carbon projects like seagrass and saltmarshes, because it is easy to understand the numerous co-benefits of investing in such nature-based solutions. Climate justice, land rights, youth, and women’s rights are popular cross cutting concerns, while policy, capacity building and conservation are key approaches.”

Aside from blue carbon approaches, we see a lot of appetite amongst our clients to learn about other carbon sinks such as peatlands and forests, followed by agriculture and food systems as a whole. Climate justice, land rights, youth, and women’s rights are popular cross cutting concerns, while policy, capacity building and conservation are key approaches.

2. What influences philanthropists’ / foundations’ decision making when assessing quality of projects in terms of how they gauge climate impact, but also co-benefits?

Each donor is different in how they assess which organisations or projects to fund, and how stringently they set the criteria. But generally speaking, they share a few common questions that help them assess the quality of a project:

How well does it align with our philanthropic mission and values?

If climate justice is a core value of the donor, for instance, they will assess the project based on whether it advances climate justice by putting more power and resources into the hands of those most affected by the climate crisis. Similarly, if they care deeply about biodiversity, they will want to make sure that the project is led by experts who can advise on planting the right trees in the right way to benefit the local ecosystem.

What is the impact of the intervention?

Donors will consider the project’s potential to create positive environmental and social outcomes, depending on their core concerns, whether that be reduction in carbon emissions, or the extent to which communities have ownership and gain benefit from the project. Some donors like hard metrics to demonstrate the impact of the project, such as total carbon sequestered over time, number of trees planted, number of jobs created, or the percentage change in community attitudes towards mangrove restoration. While these example metrics are useful, we try to educate donors that impact measures are best defined by the project leads and communities themselves, so that they are monitoring and reporting what is most useful and important to them.

What is the sustainability of the project?

Philanthropists will consider whether all the conditions are in place to ensure that the mangroves will be thriving and delivering their benefits long after they have stopped funding the project. This includes having the right tree species and planting methods, community buy-in through education and alternative livelihood opportunities, and a clear plan for ongoing funding, whether through donations or income.

What is the track record of the organisation?

Donors will look closely at the organisation or individuals leading the project to assess their expertise and capacity to successfully implement the project. They might do this by reviewing impact reports, holding short interviews with the project leads, or reaching out to other funders for references.

3. Following on from the above: what information can practitioners make available, and in what format, to better showcase their projects and help this decision-making?

In the process of making a decision, clear communication materials are essential. Donors usually start by checking out a website before they even consider asking for a proposal. That is why it’s a good idea to include compelling materials that showcase the impact of your work.

Telling captivating stories and providing clear impact metrics are crucial to demonstrating the project’s effectiveness and track record. It’s also important to include financial information, such as the organisation’s annual budget, so that donors can determine whether their usual grant size is too much for the organisation to handle or whether they are better set to make a small contribution to a larger pool of resources. It’s also important to highlight the individuals who are behind the project, their skills and backgrounds, and to make their contact information publicly available so that donors know who they can reach out to with any questions.

If and when invited for a proposal, then pay close attention to the guidelines, especially on the maximum pages they would like. I’ve learned that philanthropists and small foundations typically have very little time to make a number of complex decisions, so the easier you can make this process by being succinct and clear, the better.

4. Moving away from philanthropists and to Impatience Earth – who are you, and what services do you provide?

“We see ourselves as climate knowledge and relationship brokers – helping donors access the incredible array of climate expertise of practitioners, activists, and academics to help make sense of the climate emergency in a way that resonates with them.”

We are a small team of advisors with backgrounds in climate change, biodiversity, international development, social justice, philanthropy and entrepreneurship. We are incredibly passionate about what we do, and how we see our work contributing towards a much more equitable world for everybody. We set out in 2020 to increase the amount of philanthropic capital being directed to climate change, but we also want to see funding going to actors who have been traditionally overlooked and underfunded, and to help shift philanthropy towards a more trust-based approach and in support of climate justice.

We see ourselves as climate knowledge and relationship brokers – helping donors access the incredible array of climate expertise of practitioners, activists, and academics to help make sense of the climate emergency in a way that resonates with them, and then move forward on acting on climate with confidence by helping them develop strategies, and connecting them to co-funders and potential grantees.

The learning journey is a central component of our work, which is a bespoke series of intimate sessions with experts where they can dive deep into a subject area and ask lots of questions. We’ve found that learning is critical; clients who want to skip the learning and go straight to recommendations on who to fund don’t seem to end up committing to climate in the long-term.

5. What are the most common questions that you are asked? Have any common themes emerged that you think need to be better answered/communicated by practitioners?

The most common question we hear is “where can we best make an impact?”

In the climate emergency, there is no straightforward answer to this question, because it is a complex global systemic crisis. Unfortunately this is where a lot of potential donors to climate change get stuck, because it seems so overwhelming, when in fact there are so many ideas, initiatives and approaches in need of funding that will collectively deliver the change we need.

We help each client craft an answer to this question that makes most sense to them through learning and reflection. There are a number of factors that will influence the answer, such as what values are core to the foundation, where they are drawn to funding geographically, where they think change comes from (e.g. top-town, bottom-up, or both), and which sectors and approaches resonate most with what they have supported so far and want to focus on in future.

For practitioners seeking funding, it is important, unsurprisingly, to help funders clearly understand how their grants will make a difference. This stems from you understanding the broader change you are working towards in the climate context and beyond, whether it’s building long term community resilience, strengthening local biodiversity or building the movement for climate justice. While it’s important to outline the how (activities) and the why (the problem statement) to demonstrate your capabilities in planning a project, it is the outcomes that will inspire donors to invest in you and help them realise their own impact.

You can find out more about Impatience Earth and their work on their website.

Financing Blue Carbon Ethically, Responsibly and Effectively: Blog Series Featured

31/01/2023 by Robyn Shilland in 2023 Blue Carbon series

Financing Blue Carbon Ethically, Responsibly, and Effectively:
ACES Blog Series

In the last 10 years or so, mangrove forests have undergone a reputational shift that any PR agency would be proud of. Once dismissed as malaria-ridden swamps, mangroves are now recognised as the coastal superheroes that they really are. Seagrass meadows are also increasingly recognised for their environmental importance, and even saltmarshes – perhaps, unfortunately, less charismatic than their coastal cousins – are receiving attention for their carbon storage abilities. These three ecosystems together are the three main ‘blue carbon’ ecosystems[1], and their collective ability to contribute to the mitigation of and adaptation to climate change is huge in relation to their area.

This newfound fame is cause for celebration – we protect what we love, and blue carbon ecosystems deserve all of the love they can get. Mangrove, seagrass and saltmarsh scientists and conservationists who have been singing their praises for decades are now joined by a tidal wave of interest from people wanting to contribute to their protection and restoration. On the face of it, this is good news for blue carbon conservation, yet this excitement brings a risk that the quantity of support may come at the expense of quality of work that it funds.

Take, for example, planting mangrove trees. People love to see mangrove saplings being stuck in the ground, muddy hands and feet working hard to plant seedling after seedling, filling bare gaps along the coast with a future forest. Yet mangrove planting is notoriously fickle – one 2015 study suggests that only around 50% of mangrove planting efforts succeed to become established forests. Wave erosion, suffocation by sediment and grazing by goats are among the biggest threat to these newly planted trees, which often lack the protection of a surrounding forest which new seedings need to thrive. This challenge is not well-known outside of conservation and science, however, and funders keen to finance the planting of mangroves may end up throwing their money at efforts that may well fail.

Expectations of what blue carbon can deliver, in what timescale and with what budget must also be managed. Projects that are certified to sell carbon credits generated from mangrove planting and protection take time, energy, patience and resources to develop. For this reason, they are few and far between – fewer than 10 projects worldwide at the end of 2022 – creating a huge mismatch between supply and demand for ‘blue carbon credits’. Funders must recognise the need for upfront financing to get these projects off the ground, and allow for flexible, iterative approaches to project development that mean that the communities involved can be meaningfully consulted and involved, which may ultimately mean a deviation from the original proposal to the funders. This community engagement and involvement is crucial, however, both in the project development phase and throughout the lifespan of the work. Project developments must meaningfully engage with community aspirations, needs and perspectives to ensure social justice in the project interventions and benefits. Our first blog will present findings from research into perspectives of justice among the community of Vanga, home to our Vanga Blue Forest project. Through quotes from research participants, we will present the findings through the eyes of the community, highlighting the nuances of what social justice means to those most impacted by the projects.

Carbon credits may be a solution for some communities wanting to protect and restore mangrove forests, but it is not a solution that is suitable for all. The resources, skills and equipment needed to develop these projects is beyond the capacity of an average community group, meaning that there is almost certainly going to be a reliance on scientific and technical partners, which may well come at a cost. Nearby scientific facilities may ne needed for processing of samples and for scientific and technical support for project staff – something that is not always available in remote areas. For these and other reasons, significant stumbling blocks can lie between community groups and carbon certification. This challenge should be recognised and funders should consider the possibility of grant funding to unaccredited projects, rather than or in addition to buying carbon credits. This approach has been taken by Ocean Bottle, who have diverged from offsetting their carbon footprint to funding high-quality projects that fund the conservation and restoration of carbon sinks, including blue carbon ecosystems. Later in the year, Ocean Bottle’s blog will expand on their approach to financing blue carbon as part of their environmental and social responsibility as a marine-focused business.

Whether funding comes from carbon credits, grant funding, philanthropy or other sources, the ethics of where the money comes from and what role it plays in the funder/buyer’s carbon reduction, CSR or philanthropic strategy is important. Funding blue carbon conservation shouldn’t be a distraction from taking steps to make systemic change or reducing carbon emissions or to cover up harmful or unethical practices elsewhere. It should be well-informed and researched, although donors do not always necessarily have the time, knowledge and capacity to carry out this research. For businesses, many sustainability consultants are available to provide this support, particularly regarding carbon reductions and offsets. In the philanthropic landscape, Impatience Earth provide pro-bono advice to philanthropic trusts who are interested in making donations to organisations to tackle the climate crisis. In April, we will publish a blog from Impatience Earth discussing their work, including what motivates philanthropists to find climate change work and what influences their decisions when directing this funding.

This recent ‘blue carbon boom’ provide great opportunities for the conservation of mangroves, seagrass, saltmarsh and other marine ecosystems, if directed appropriately and informed by the lessons learned from the protection and restoration of blue carbon habitats so far. Our upcoming blog series, with contributions from Ocean Bottle, Impatience Earth, the community of Vanga, and also researchers into the future of carbon financing, will address key topics and questions needed to help to direct this funding.

Our first blog, Voices from Vanga, will be posted on 28^th February. If you would like to be signed up to our mailing list to receive this, drop us a line at [email protected].

[1] Sometimes, ‘blue carbon’ is used to refer to any carbon sequestered in the oceans – be it by mangroves, plankton, whales or even fish. Here, the term is used exclusively to mean mangroves, seagrass and saltmarsh ecosystems.

Hope In Nature Means Faith In People

23/09/2018 by aces-admin in Conservation

‘The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese’. Those few words, scrawled in the areal graffiti of a thoughtless tweet, should be as light and transient as a dirty snowflake. When they issue from the most powerful man in the world, they feel more like a gale of filth. How is it possible for climate change activists, for scientists, and even for those simply concerned about the distinction between facts and self-serving fantasy, to remain hopeful in the face of such wilful rejection of the evidence?

A blithe, all-will-be-well, make-the-best-of-it optimism is not an appropriate response. That is just one more species of denial, and it is why I prefer the idea of conservation hope to conservation optimism. We need to acknowledge the scale of our challenges and the inevitability of our losses. This is the sobering message of the Anthropocene, the age of human impact; humanity has changed the Earth for millennia to come, and many of those changes are deeply sad and ugly. So just adjusting the emotional thermostat a little, like taking some happy pills, smacks of evasion. But hope, clear-eyed and well informed, can save us from cynicism and despair and point the way to the future.

So what does hope look like? How about some of the poorest people in the world donating their time and energy to conserve wildlife? Or people from nearly fifty different nations coming together to plant trees in the mud? Or national, regional and local politicians working together to nurture a community-based, locally-rooted response to the challenges that climate change brings? These are all experiences we have had with Mikoko Pamoja – ‘mangroves united’ in Swahili.

Mangroves are remarkable ecosystems. Forests that grow in the sea, they straddle the land and the oceans, mix crabs with caterpillars and tides with transpiration. They are perplexing, beautiful and useful; and they are threatened. One of their features, that we have only begun to appreciate in the past two decades, is their remarkable ability to capture and store carbon, and to elevate their soil in pace with sea level rise. This means they can help to both mitigate against and adapt to climate change, and it provides one way to work for their conservation.

The science is clear; mangroves capture carbon and losing them releases it. The economics are clear; conserving mangroves is nearly always a better investment than cutting them down, once you account for the multiple services that they provide. The policy response has been as muddy as mangrove water; because mangroves confound our usual categories – are they terrestrial or marine? Habitats for fish or sources of timber? – they fall between sectors and fall prey to muddled management as well as corruption and short term profit making. This has meant that we have lost more than 50% since the 1950s, and forest destruction continues today.

Mikoko Pamoja is the world’s first community-based mangrove conservation project to be funded by the sale of carbon credits. It was founded to help challenge and reverse these depressing trends. It acknowledges the need for poor people to benefit from their ecosystems, by turning the enormous global benefits that we all receive from the ability of these forests to trap carbon into collective progress for the people who need to care for them. Democratic decisions on how to spend their money have resulted in the community investing in new school buildings, new text books, new wells and sources of fresh drinking water.

Carbon offsetting – even when it directly benefits the poor and helps to conserve vital ecosystems – cannot solve climate change. Only large scale change can do that. But it provides one way to bring hope and start the process of conserving our vital natural carbon sinks. It also uses that hard won scientific knowledge – so casually traduced by the new US president – to link people together rather than separate them. The people of Gazi Bay in Kenya are learning how to work with others from around the world to conserve their mangroves, and they are keen to help other communities learn from them. Why not join them?

Tag: Conservation