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Plan Vivo Project Idea Note Project Title: Mikoko Pamoja Mangrove restoration in Gazi Bay, Kenya March 2010

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Page 1: Project Title: Mikoko Pamoja Mangrove restoration in …bluecarbonportal.org/.../Mikoko-Pajoma_Mangrove-Restoration-in-Gazi... · Project Title: Mikoko Pamoja Mangrove restoration

Plan Vivo Project Idea Note

Project Title: Mikoko Pamoja

Mangrove restoration in Gazi Bay, Kenya

March 2010

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1. Summary of project objectives, proposed project activities and impacts ................................ 3

2. Project impacts .............................................................................................................................. 7

3. Identify target groups/communities ............................................................................................ 7

4. Description of proposed project area .......................................................................................... 8

5. Ownership of carbon rights – Land-tenure ............................................................................... 11

6. Description of applicant organisation(s) and proposed governance structure ...................... 11

7. Community-led design plan submitted ..................................................................................... 13

8. Additionality ................................................................................................................................ 14

9. Compliance with relevant national and international regulations and notification of relevant bodies .................................................................................................................................... 14

10. Sources of start-up funding identified ................................................................................... 14

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1. Summary of project objectives, proposed project activities and impacts

Objectives The overall objective of this project, called ‘Mikoko Pamoja’, is to channel finance to the protection and restoration of mangrove ecosystems in Kenya through the provision of and payment for quantifiable ecosystem services. The proposed project aims to protect, enhance and expand an area of mangrove forest at Gazi in southern Kenya, in the expectation that this will inform mangrove conservation throughout Kenya.

Specific objectives of Mikoko Pamoja are:

• To preserve the current quality and extent of the mangrove forests of Gazi Bay and of the services they provide to local communities

• To restore degraded areas of mangrove forest in Gazi Bay

• To raise income from forest resources, including carbon credits, for community benefit

• To establish alternative sources of timber and firewood in the Gazi area

• To establish a pilot project demonstrating sustainable mangrove management that will influence mangrove management nationally in Kenya

• To work with the Kenya Forest Service and other government agencies to determine policy about engaging communities in land management, particularly through the provision of ecosystem services through international carbon offset markets

Project activities

• Delineation and mapping of protected areas and monitoring and evaluating their development

• Reforestation of degraded areas and maintenance of nurseries

• Determination of the carbon storage capacity of the Gazi mangroves using remote sensing, GIS technology and intensive ground-truthing

• Planting of Casuarina plantations and other fast growing trees to subsidize mangrove wood

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• Payments for Ecosystem Services, through expansion of community fund for financing community projects (such as new school buildings, installation of electricity in the school, scholarships for poor children attending high school, repair of wind pumps, agricultural diversification etc).

All mangrove species in Kenya are native and grow in areas that cannot be used for agriculture and thus do not displace crops. The site is exceptionally well studied and has a long history of interaction with visiting scientists and volunteers. Existing physical and social infrastructure will help with this new proposal (see section 2). For example, we have established an ‘Earthwatch/Gazi community committee’, consisting of 10 local people (5 men and 5 women) with a

remit of setting community objectives for fundraising and spending, of overseeing the implementation of agreed projects and of providing advice on the interactions between local people and visitors.

Mangroves throughout Kenya and at Gazi have been degraded and removed. The main current pressure on the forests comes from collection of wood for timber and firewood, although past clear felling for industrial uses has left large areas denuded of trees. The past and current degradation has led to shortage of firewood, increased shoreline erosion, reduction in fishery and other biodiversity, loss of carbon, and possibly reduced value as nursery habitats for fish and other wildlife.

This project aims to protect initially 107 ha of the current forest from further degradation, leading to forest recovery and naturally enhanced carbon capture (in woody biomass and in sediment). It will also expand reforestation efforts, aiming initially to replant 1 ha yr-1. This modest target reflects the difficulty of replanting the degraded areas at the site. Although the main clear-felled areas were cut in the 1970s there has been almost no regeneration since due to threshold effects resulting from large scale clearance; enhanced wave action and erosion at low shore sites and enhanced salinisation at high shore sites have meant seedlings cannot establish. We have demonstrated that replanting is possible at these sites and can lead to positive ecosystem changes, but it requires trees to be grown in nurseries and transplanted after 6 months growth, which is labour and capital intensive.

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The carbon benefits and projected income from these activities are given below:

Activity Forest type Area (ha)

Carbon benefit (t CO2 ha-1 yr-1)

Total annual project carbon benefit from initial activities (t CO2 yr-1)

Income ($)*

Avoided deforestation

Natural mixed

100 18 (based on sequestration in mature forest, so conservative given this is a recovering forest)

1800 10,800

Reforestation Rhizophora plantation

7 29 (based on 12 year old plantation)

203 1218

Reforestation New plantation (Sonneratia)

5 (after 5 years)

4 (but increasing to ~ 10 after 10 years)

20 120

Total 2023 tCO2 benefit per annum

$12,138 potential annual income from carbon credits

* assumes a conservative price of $6 tonne-1 CO2

We also propose to establish a Casuarina plantation of 3000 trees on community land close to Gazi village, for timber production on a five-year rotation. This will build on skills already present in the village. It will help to prevent carbon leakage, by giving a source of firewood and timber for local people to replace the material currently taken from the mangroves. It will also provide income to the community fund by selling poles (which increase in value as they age) giving a highly reliable financial return on the project within the first five years, which will complement the less secure return on the carbon sequestered and help ensure project sustainability. In addition to harvesting commercial poles brush will be used as a source of firewood.

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The proposed harvesting plan is outlined below:

Year Trees harvested Income (Kenyan shillings) Notes

1 Initial costs of planting, fencing, weeding and tending to be covered by start-up funding.

3000 trees planted at 1×1 m

4 600 200 pole-1 = 120,000 6000 spent on replanting, this and every subsequent year

5 600 250 pole-1 = 150,000

6 600 300 pole-1 = 180,000

7 600 350 pole-1 = 210,000

8 600 400 pole-1 = 240,000

9 600 250 pole-1 = 150,000 Permanent five year rotation established (i.e. harvesting yr 4 trees this year)

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2. Project impacts

Through the initial forest protection and planting activities we will increase the quality and extent of the current forest and maintain and enhance carbon sinks. These biological and physical impacts will raise income for the Gazi Bay community group, which will be spent on local community development projects (as decided by the group). In addition we will employ one local person full time (as a project administrator) and approximately 7 people part time as assistants helping with nursery establishment, outplanting, and project policing. The forest enhancement activities will reduce coastal erosion and enhance the ecological value of the forest (for example by allowing the re-growth of large trees that provide habitat for a wide range of different organisms and by converting barren areas of sand into forests with high biodiversity).

We are proposing a modest initial project with the intention of expanding once we are established and the income from carbon sequestration is assured. Hence we intend to expand the area of forest protected (to 200 ha), to re-plant all degraded areas that can be restored and eventually to instigate full sustainable management for some areas of the forest, with rotational harvesting of mangrove timber. This has the potential to influence mangrove management policy throughout Kenya.

3. Identify target groups/communities

The target communities are the people living adjacent to the Gazi Bay areas at Gazi and Makongeni villages. Based on the 1999 national census, the two villages have resident population of ~2000 and ~700 respectively. These people are predominantly artisanal fishermen relying on fish caught in the mangrove/sea grass/coral reef system of the Bay. There are also small scale agricultural activities including coconut and banana farming and animal husbandry, of mostly cows, sheep and goats. Local organisations involved will include the local Community Forest Association (which will be the legal entity with the right to harvest forest goods) and the Gazi Mangrove Management committee (a new committee building on the Earthwatch/Gazi community committee). External groups supporting this project include Earthwatch Institute, Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute and Edinburgh Napier University.

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4. Description of proposed project area

Physical environment

Gazi Bay, in the Kwale district of Kenya, is located 55 kilometers (34 miles) south of Mombasa (see figure 1). This 18-square-kilometer (6.9-square-mile) bay is sheltered from strong sea waves by the presence of Chale Peninsula to the east and a fringing coral reef to the south. The reef supports a local subsistence and commercial fishery.

The bay area supports considerable biodiversity including over 180 species of fish and impressive bird life, including three species of bee-eater, pelicans, palm vultures and hornbills. It is near a reserve for the black and white Colobus monkey, the tourist resort of Diani beach, the Shimba Hills National Park (famous for its elephants) and the Kisite-Mpunguti Marine National Park. Many sites of historical interest are located along the coastline, including a ruin in Gazi that was once used as a concentration center for slaves before they were shipped to Far East countries.

Gazi Bay is bordered by 6.2 square kilometres (2.4 square miles) of mangrove forests, which are heavily used by local people as a fishing ground and source of wood for building and fuel. The mangroves have been extensively used and degraded – with large areas clear-felled in the 1970s, commercial logging involving selective removal operating over many years and still continuing in some stands and continuing forest degradation through poaching and cutting for firewood. This has resulted in shortages of building poles and firewood, decreased fishery resources and increased coastal erosion.

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Figure 1. Map of the project area. ‘Site 1’ and ‘Site 2’ indicate locations for proposed re-planting work. Dark shaded areas are mangroves, light shaded are sea grass.

Summary of climate conditions at the site

Humidity 60% to 100% Temperature range 22°C to 32°C

Altitude 0m to 100m

Rainfall ~ 12cm per month

The climate is hot and humid. There are usually two wet seasons, in March-May and October-November, although climate patterns have been shifting in recent years and rainfall can occur at any time.

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Socio-economic Environment

Gazi village has a resident population of ~2000 people and is supplied with clean, potable water and electricity. The village is predominantly Muslim, as are most surrounding villages, although there are also Christians and animists living harmoniously in the area. The main ethnic group is the Swahili, the Mijikenda of Bantu origin being the second commonest. The area has a long history of peaceful integration and of welcoming visitors; it was unaffected by the political strife in Kenya in 2008. Most people in the area have traditionally survived from artisanal fisheries and small scale agriculture and these are still the dominant activities. The relatively good infrastructure, including the proximity of the main Mombasa – Dar-es-Salaam road,

mains electricity in Gazi and good provision of potable water, and the productive climate help most people to avoid extreme poverty (people do not suffer from starvation in the area). However, many families live outside the formal economy or on poor wages and the area has some of the lowest educational attainments in Kenya. 25% of households receive remittances from kin outside of the area, and around one third of people are recent immigrants, many from Tanzania, who have come mostly to exploit the reef based fisheries.

Carbon Baseline Mangrove forests develop and sustain two different carbon sinks: forest biomass and the burial of carbon in sediments. The latter may constitute a very long term sink, with large amounts of carbon held in peat. Gazi Bay is the best-studied mangrove system in Africa (and one of the best-studied in the world) and there is detailed information on above and below-ground carbon for different forest types, although no formal attempt has been made to estimate total carbon stocks. As a first approximation, data from Gazi shows an above-ground biomass of ~250 t/ha, although this varies depending on age, species and location. Below-ground biomass (to

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60cm depth) varies from 7.5 – 75 t/ha. This equates to approximately 155,000 t aboveground and 23250 t belowground (178,250 t total) in the Gazi area. In addition, mangroves sequester around 1.5 t C/ha/yr-1 in accretion of new sediment, and approximately 5 t C/ha/yr-1 in new biomass (for a mature forest – rates are higher for young forests and plantations). Hence the forest sequesters an additional ~4030 t C every year.

5. Ownership of carbon rights – Land-tenure

All mangroves in Kenya are gazetted as government reserve forests. However, under the provisions of the Forest Act 2005 Community Forest Associations (CFAs) are encouraged to develop management plans for local forests and to benefit from the goods and services they supply. The CFA in the Gazi area exists but is yet to manage the mangroves. This project will use the existing legal structure to develop operational plans for Gazi mangroves. This will allow community user rights for all areas designated for protection or restoration under this project.

6. Description of applicant organisation(s) and proposed governance structure

The application is submitted by the ‘Tidal forests of Kenya’ team, a collaboration between Earthwatch International, Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI) and the Gazi community (as represented by the Gazi/Earthwatch committee).

The team has worked together in the area for eight years. Earthwatch International is an NGO based in the USA but with staff in three other countries. It has more than thirty years experience of supporting conservation and development work using volunteers. KMFRI is the national research organization charged with responsibilities of researching and advising the Kenyan government on wise use of mangrove environment. It has a small research station in Gazi and staff who live permanently in the village. The Gazi Womens Mangrove Walkboard Group is a functioning and registered local community group that manages income from the mangrove walkboard project at Gazi – this group would assume key responsibility for the Mikoko Pamoja project, thus acting as the project co-ordinator group, with additional oversight from the Gazi/Earthwatch committee and with a management board for the Mikoko Pamoja activities with representatives from KMFRI, Earthwatch and the Gazi/Earthwatch committee.

Key people involved in initiating and supporting the project include:

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• Dr James Kairo (KMFRI) – principal research officer for mangroves at KMFRI and based permanently in the community. Kairo is also a Principle Investigator on the Tidal Forests of Kenya project.

• Mr Mohammed Twaha – Chairman of the Earthwatch/Gazi community committee.

• Dr Jared Bosire (KMFRI) – Assistant Director, KMFRI.

• Mr Nat Spring (Earthwatch) – Field director of research at Earthwatch UK.

• Dr Mark Huxham (Edinburgh Napier University) – Principle Investigator on the Tidal Forests of Kenya project.

• Dr Martin Skov (Bangor University) - Principle Investigator on the Tidal Forests of Kenya project.

• Dr Maurizio Mencuccini (Edinburgh University) - Principle Investigator on the Tidal Forests of Kenya project.

Personnel working permanently at the site on the project operation and implementation will be appointed provided accreditation is achieved – there is a team of six KMFRI assistants at Gazi who are very experienced in mangrove restoration and who will be available to provide part time assistance.

Project team leader

A team leader (and project administrator) living in Gazi will be appointed (on a three day a week, three year contract) once initial approval for accreditation is achieved. This person will undertake the co-ordination and organizational tasks as specified by Plan Vivo but with help available from the support team.

Support team

The project will be supported by the organizations and individuals listed above. The current Earthwatch project ‘The Tidal Forests of Kenya’ is committed to continued work at the site for the next four years at least. This will allow the use of Earthwatch volunteers and scientists as advisors and workers (for example during the establishment of nurseries and during tree

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planting). We will aim to expand the current community involvement in nursery establishment and planting, for example by including regular planting days for local school children. KMFRI has a long-term interest and expertise in mangrove management in Kenya and as a government institute will ensure the project complies with all legal requirements whilst recognizing that it is independent of government and that benefits flow to the local community – KMFRI is already involved in a number of similar community based projects across the country.

The project team has very considerable scientific expertise with a world-leading expert on carbon cycling in forests and a track record of successful mangrove restoration and research on carbon cycling in mangroves at the site.

7. Community-led design plan submitted

Mikoko Pamoja consultation plan:

Date Activity Notes

June – August 2009

A series of consultations held in Gazi to establish community priorities – these included desks and electricity for the school and a new water pump

January 2010

Initial PIN submitted to Plan Vivo Foundation

March 2010

Establishment of Mikoko Pamoja (using existing community structures) and initial discussions over detailed management plan

Contingent on positive initial Plan Vivo Foundation response

June 2010 Further stakeholder discussions and formal agreement of plan at village wide meeting.

Appointment of project coordinator (tem leader?)

Earthwatch support available in-country

September 2010

Planting Casuarina and other fast growing trees We need to arrange lease agreements…

November 2010

Mikoko Pamoja committee meets formally to review progress now and four times per year subsequently

Project coordinator acts as secretary

June 2011 Village-wide consultation/celebration after first carbon payments made. Similar events held annually

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8. Additionality

This project builds on the expertise of the project team but activities are new and do not replicate existing work. Although the legal structure is now available in Kenya for community based natural resources management (CBNRM) this is not taking place in any mangrove forests. In the absence of this project there is very little likelihood of similar work being initiated. There is no local history of community mangrove management in the region and no experience of using the relevant legal instruments. 9. Compliance with relevant national and international

regulations and notification of relevant bodies We will comply with all relevant regulations – a letter of notification from the Kenya Forest Service will be provided.

10. Sources of start-up funding identified We have the following sources available:

Aviva

Aviva is helping to fund mangrove carbon cycling research through the Earthwatch Tidal Forests of Kenya project. They have agreed to supply funding for

• Costs of initial fencing and planting Casuarina

• Costs of project validation

• A contribution towards the costs of the coordinator post

Whilst these initial secured contributions represent part of Aviva’s current support for the mangrove conservation and research activities at Gazi, and are thus not contingent on secured carbon offsets in the future, Aviva do intend to be one of the organisations buying such offsets. The first two costs noted here are one offs; the final one will be met in future years through carbon finances.

Earthwatch Institute

Through the on-going research project, Earthwatch supplies three teams of volunteers per year who work on mangrove research and conservation. These volunteer teams can be allocated to help with appropriate tasks, such as monitoring tree survival and growth and planting new trees. The Earthwatch research also pays for out of country scientists to visit the site regularly.

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Edinburgh Napier, Bangor and Edinburgh Universities

There are PhD students working on related research projects and every year additional masters and undergraduate students interested in related projects. These students represent a considerable source of technical expertise and free labour that can be applied to appropriate technical questions.

Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute

KMFRI has a operational office in Gazi with full-time technical staff and a senior scientists. The team has a long term experience in rehabilitation and conservation of mangroves which will be available to the project throughout the entire period.