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Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Carbon credits · Guinea · 2017–2022

Mine offsets in Guinea and Madagascar drew village complaints over water and access

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
What the record lacks: 2 none on record · 1 insufficient · 1 not measured See the gaps

Bauxite mines in Guinea and the Ambatovy nickel mine in Madagascar used conservation areas as biodiversity offsets. Mongabay reported water loss for a Guinean village and restricted access for villagers in Madagascar.

What?
Bauxite mines in Guinea and the Ambatovy nickel mine in Madagascar used conservation areas as biodiversity offsets for their operations. Mongabay
Where?
Guinea (bauxite mines and the offset park about 300 km away) and Madagascar (Ambatovy nickel mine) Mongabay
When?
Guinea park data 2017 to 2019; Madagascar offset data 2022 Mongabay
Who?
Gained
  • Bauxite mines in Guinea — financed a 6,426 square kilometre chimpanzee offset park about 300 km from the mines Mongabay
  • Ambatovy (Madagascar) — offset area of 28,740 ha against 2,064 ha of habitat loss Mongabay
Lost
  • Kintao Kawil village (Guinea) — a stream the village uses is no longer drinkable, a villager told Mongabay Mongabay
Harmed
  • Villagers with restricted access to Ambatovy offset areas (Madagascar) — not counted as affected persons under the World Bank Group standard Mongabay
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Mines financed offset areas to compensate for habitat loss elsewhere; the Guinea park was financed for chimpanzees. Mongabay
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Mongabay reported in 2019 that a 6,426 square kilometre park about 300 km from the mines was financed by two bauxite mines in Guinea as a chimpanzee offset.

A villager from Kintao Kawil village told Mongabay that a stream affected by mining was no longer drinkable.

Mongabay reported in 2022 that villagers in Madagascar with restricted access to Ambatovy offset areas were not counted as affected persons under the World Bank Group standard.

Mongabay reported that the Madagascar offset covered 28,740 ha against 2,064 ha of habitat loss.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: the offsets contributed to 180 to 400 chimpanzee deaths in Guinea, and a net gain cannot be achieved (ProPublica and IUCN summaries).
    • None on record Not found: the names of the two bauxite mines that financed the chimpanzee park.
    • None on record Not found: whether the Ambatovy offset areas or the affected-persons status have since been reviewed.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Press and investigations

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
    Terms used on this page

    Carbon and conservation finance

    Offset
    Using carbon credits to balance emissions released elsewhere, so that a buyer can claim lower or zero net emissions.

    Science and environment

    Hectare (ha)
    A unit of area equal to 10,000 square metres, about 2.5 acres. 100 hectares make one square kilometre.

    Institutions

    IUCN Red List
    The International Union for Conservation of Nature and its global list assessing species' risk of extinction.
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