Djibouti Government–UNEP Mangrove Restoration — Khor Angar & Damerjog, with Project Sahil Carbon-Credit Follow-On

Djibouti's mangrove forests, concentrated at Khor Angar in the north and Damerjog in the south, declined sharply -- the Khor Angar forest alone shrank from about 120 hectares to about 60 hectares -- as rising seas blocked the tidal channels that fed them. Since 2014, the Government of Djibouti (Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development) and UN Environment (UNEP), with roughly US$2 million in GEF funding, have run a restoration and climate-adaptation programme combining mangrove replanting with community works (dams, solar-powered irrigation, desalination, and livelihood training). A separate, more recent initiative, Project Sahil (with Africa Carbon Solutions and local communities), proposes to scale restoration to 2,921 hectares across eight sites and pursue Verra VCS/CCB carbon credits.

The GEF/UNEP programme combined mangrove replanting (over 100,000 seedlings, with the Khor Angar nursery producing about 35,000 seedlings a year) with three small dams and solar-powered irrigation at Damerjog, an upgraded desalination system, and training in sustainable fishing, date-palm cultivation, eco-tourism and small-scale agriculture. Project Sahil proposes 781 ha of preservation, 1,675 ha of mangrove replanting and 465 ha of green coastal barriers over a 40-year horizon, following Verra VCS methodologies (VM0033, VM0047).

UNEP reports a 0.5% mortality rate for replanted seedlings and the documented return of crabs to restored channels, but estimates full forest recovery will take 50-100 years. Community participation in tree maintenance is largely unpaid volunteer labour rather than a direct payment scheme. Project Sahil's promotional materials project sequestration of roughly 2,011,199 tonnes of CO2 equivalent over the project's lifetime, but this is an ex-ante modelled estimate -- no independent verification or carbon-credit issuance had been reported as of the sources reviewed.