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Good practice Imported

Bouche du Roy Blue Carbon Mangrove Restoration — Community-Led Coastal PES in the Mono Delta

Benin · Grand-Popo · See the Benin profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 53% 47/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Since 2014, Eco-Benin and partners have restored mangroves across the ~9,678 ha Bouche du Roy reserve on the Benin-Togo border; a 2023 study projects ~402,841 tCO2e sequestered over 30 years to fund it via blue-carbon credits, with 80%+ seedling survival so far.

402,841 tCO2e
Projected carbon sequestration (30-year feasibility study) (2023 study, 30-year horizon)
80%+
Seedling survival rate
1,500+
Students reached via environmental education
9,678 hectares
Reserve area
Bouche du Roy Blue Carbon Mangrove Restoration — Community-Led Coastal PES in the Mono Delta

Details

Maturity
Pilot
Promoter
Eco-Benin, with IUCN Netherlands and the Blue Natural Capital Financing Facility
Period
2014-ongoing (feasibility study 2023)
Keywords
blue carbon, mangrove restoration, coastal ecosystem services, community livelihoods

Context

The Bouche du Roy reserve, straddling the Mono River delta on Benin's border with Togo, covers roughly 9,678 hectares and anchors the transboundary Mono Delta Biosphere Reserve (UNESCO MAB) and Ramsar Site 1017. Decades of firewood harvesting, fish-smoking and coastal development had degraded much of its mangrove cover, undermining fisheries, coastal protection and carbon storage.

Objectives

Restore mangrove cover through community-led replanting and reserve co-management, and develop blue-carbon credit financing to sustain restoration over the long term.

Activities

Since 2014 the local NGO Eco-Benin, with Africa Mobile Nature and Nature Tropicale, has led community-based mangrove replanting and co-management, originally financed by Germany's BMUB with GIZ technical support. A subsequent grant from IUCN's Blue Natural Capital Financing Facility supported development of a mangrove carbon project document, and a 2023 feasibility study (verified by IUCN Netherlands and carbon-project developer CO2logic) projected the sequestration potential.

Results

The 2023 feasibility study projected approximately 402,841 tCO2e sequestered over 30 years, to be financed through blue-carbon credit sales. Early monitoring reported an average seedling survival rate above 80%, and the programme has trained park rangers and local residents and reached more than 1,500 students through environmental education, while creating temporary employment for fishing communities during planting campaigns.

Conclusions

The carbon-sequestration figure remains a feasibility-study projection rather than a verified, issued credit volume, and coastal-erosion benefits are described qualitatively in project reporting rather than quantified.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k) — No total cost figure disclosed; funded via BMUB/GIZ grant plus IUCN Blue Natural Capital Financing Facility grant for carbon-project development
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — Restoration ongoing since 2014; carbon-financing feasibility study (2023) covers a 30-year sequestration horizon
Staffing & skills
Eco-Benin (local NGO) - lead implementer, Africa Mobile Nature, Nature Tropicale, Germany's BMUB - initial funder, GIZ - technical support, IUCN Netherlands / Blue Natural Capital Financing Facility - carbon-project development, CO2logic - carbon-project developer/verifier

Conditions for success

  • Community-based co-management and local NGO leadership
  • External grant funding for both restoration and carbon-project-document development
  • Long-term (decade-plus) commitment given slow mangrove/carbon maturation

Common failure modes

  • Carbon-sequestration figure is a feasibility-study projection, not a verified/issued credit volume
  • Coastal-erosion benefits reported only qualitatively rather than measured

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes Philanthropic / foundation funding

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

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