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Good practice Imported

Vanga Blue Forest — Community Mangrove Carbon Project (Kwale County, Kenya)

Kenya · Vanga · See the Kenya profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 47% 47/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Since 2020, the Vanga Blue Forest community organisation has protected 460 ha of mangroves at Vanga Bay on the Kenya–Tanzania border under Plan Vivo certification, generating an estimated 5,347 tCO2/year and channelling 60% of carbon-credit revenue to about 974 households.

460 hectares
Mangrove forest area protected
5,347 tCO2e/year
Avoided emissions and sequestration
974 households
Registered beneficiary households
60 %
Community share of carbon-credit revenue
Vanga Blue Forest — Community Mangrove Carbon Project (Kwale County, Kenya)

Details

Promoter
Vanga Blue Forest Community Organisation / Kenya Forest Service
Period
2020-present
Keywords
blue carbon, mangrove conservation, Plan Vivo certification, community-based coastal management

Context

Vanga Blue Forest is a community-based mangrove conservation and carbon project in Vanga Bay, Kwale County, Kenya, covering the villages of Vanga, Jimbo and Kiwegu near the Kenya-Tanzania border. Inspired by the Mikoko Pamoja project in Gazi Bay, it began operations in 2020 and is co-managed by the Kenya Forest Service and a local Community Forest Association.

Objectives

The project seeks to protect mangrove forest from clearance and degradation, generate community-owned carbon-credit revenue, and diversify local livelihoods through planned beekeeping, ecotourism and crab-farming activities.

Activities

Core activities are mangrove protection and Plan Vivo-certified carbon-credit sales, which began in 2021, with revenue directed toward school materials, building construction, hospital equipment, water infrastructure and COVID-19 relief.

Results

The project protects 460 hectares of mangrove forest, generating an estimated 5,347 tCO2e per year in avoided emissions and sequestration under Plan Vivo verification. It has registered 974 beneficiary households, representing an estimated 9,000-13,500 people across the three villages, and returns 60% of carbon-credit revenue directly to the community.

Conclusions

Evidoria's own review notes that realized carbon removals have not been independently audited by a third party and that reported biodiversity benefits remain unquantified, even though the project's governance and revenue-sharing arrangements are well documented.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k) — No explicit budget is published; the project received early funding from the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. Evidoria's own source notes implementation cost detail is 'not yet available' — categorised as low cost given the small protected area and community-run model.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — Operating since 2020 with an ongoing Plan Vivo crediting period — categorised as long given the multi-decade horizon typical of Plan Vivo projects.
Staffing & skills
Kenya Forest Service — co-management, Community Forest Association — co-management, Vanga Blue Forest Community Organisation — implementing group

Conditions for success

  • Plan Vivo certification maintained
  • 60% revenue-sharing directed to community infrastructure and services
  • Co-management between the Kenya Forest Service and the Community Forest Association

Common failure modes

  • No third-party audit of realized carbon removals (Evidoria scores this dimension 2/3)
  • Unquantified biodiversity benefits (Evidoria scores this dimension 1/3)

Where it fits

Governance type
community-based natural resource management, co-managed with a government forest service
Scale
village/community (3 villages, 460 ha)
Income level
low-income (Kenya)

Commonly funded by

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

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

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