Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Carbon credits · Senegal · 2009–2026

Livelihoods Fund mangrove project (Senegal)

Nature's voice · report
In 2014 a verification found that in a quarter of the plots sampled, almost all of the tree cover I had been given was gone.
Did nature suffer? Yes. Harm is on record. Disputed
Recorded
  • By 2021 the replanting that was recommended for me had not happened.
What the record lacks: 1 none on record · 1 not disclosed · 2 insufficient · 1 self-reported only · 2 disputed See the gaps
Accounts of the harm differ
How much mangrove was planted and how much survived?
  • Company or project Livelihoods: Cites 79 million trees and 7,920 hectares restored.
  • Standard-setters and registries 2014 verification: Found almost total loss of tree cover in a quarter of sampled plots, linked to planting Rhizophora rather than Avicennia.
  • Standard-setters and registries 2021 audit: Found that the recommended replanting had not happened.
  • Standard-setters and registries BeZero (rating agency): Rates the credits BBB and flags "notable over-crediting risk".

A mangrove-planting project in the Casamance and Sine Saloum deltas planted 10,415 hectares in 2009–2012 and issued almost 500,000 credits, all of which went to its corporate investors. A 2014 verification found almost total loss of tree cover in a quarter of sampled plots.

5.2% estimateShare of the project budget paid to villagers
Estimate. USD 22 per hectare × 10,415 hectares ≈ USD 229,000, against a budget of USD 4.4 million over 20 years (Counsell and Kill briefing, via REDD-Monitor).

Status As of January 2026: replanting not done at the 2021 audit; BeZero rates the credits BBB; no response from Livelihoods in the briefing.

What?
A mangrove-planting carbon project in Senegal issued almost 500,000 credits to corporate investors; a 2014 verification found almost total loss of tree cover in a quarter of sampled plots.
Where?
Casamance and Sine Saloum deltas, Senegal.
When?
Planting 2009–2012; verification 2014; audit 2021; briefing January 2026.
Who?
Gained
  • Corporate investors (Danone, Crédit Agricole, Hermès, Michelin, SAP, Schneider and others) — Received all of the almost 500,000 credits.
Lost
None on record
Harmed
  • Planted mangrove plots — Almost total loss of tree cover in a quarter of sampled plots (2014).
Why?
The project issued carbon credits for mangrove planting; the credits went to its corporate investors.
How?
Planting over 10,415 ha; Rhizophora was planted rather than Avicennia on the plots that lost cover.
In proportion Villagers were paid about 5.2% of the project budget (USD 22 × 10,415 ha ≈ USD 229,000 of USD 4.4 million). REDD-Monitor
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

The Livelihoods Fund / Océanium mangrove project in Senegal (VCS 1318) planted mangroves over 10,415 hectares in the Casamance and Sine Saloum deltas in 2009–2012. Livelihoods cites 79 million trees and 7,920 hectares restored.

Almost 500,000 credits were issued. The budget was USD 4.4 million over 20 years. The investors named in the record are Danone, Crédit Agricole, Hermès, Michelin, SAP, Schneider and others. The credits went to the corporate investors, and prices were not disclosed.

The 2014 verification found almost total loss of tree cover in a quarter of the sampled plots, linked to the planting of Rhizophora rather than Avicennia. A 2021 audit found that the recommended replanting had not happened. BeZero rates the credits BBB and flags "notable over-crediting risk".

According to a briefing by Counsell and Kill published via REDD-Monitor on 16 January 2026, villagers were paid USD 22 per hectare, about 5.2% of the budget. No response from Livelihoods appears in that source.

  1. 2009Planting begins in the Casamance and Sine Saloum deltas (2009–2012, 10,415 ha)
  2. 2014Verification finds almost total loss of tree cover in a quarter of sampled plots; cause linked to planting Rhizophora rather than Avicennia
  3. 2021Audit finds the recommended replanting had not happened
  4. 2026Counsell and Kill briefing via REDD-Monitor reports USD 22 per hectare paid to villagers (16 January)

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“notable over-crediting risk”

BeZero, rating the credits BBB · Date not given in the record

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

How much mangrove was planted and how much survived?
Company or project
Livelihoods

Cites 79 million trees and 7,920 hectares restored.

Standard-setters and registries
2014 verification

Found almost total loss of tree cover in a quarter of sampled plots, linked to planting Rhizophora rather than Avicennia.

Standard-setters and registries
2021 audit

Found that the recommended replanting had not happened.

Standard-setters and registries
BeZero (rating agency)

Rates the credits BBB and flags "notable over-crediting risk".

Did the project's money reach the villagers?
Researchers
Counsell and Kill briefing (via REDD-Monitor)

Villagers were paid USD 22 per hectare, about 5.2% of the USD 4.4 million budget.

REDD-Monitor

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • 79 million trees
    Livelihoods
  • 7,920 hectares restored
    Livelihoods

Recorded

  • Planting in 2009–2012 over 10,415 ha in the Casamance and Sine Saloum deltas
  • 2014 verification: almost total loss of tree cover in a quarter of sampled plots, linked to planting Rhizophora rather than Avicennia
  • 2021 audit: the recommended replanting had not happened
  • Villagers paid USD 22 per hectare, about USD 229,000, 5.2% of the USD 4.4 million budget
    REDD-Monitor
  • Almost 500,000 credits issued; all went to corporate investors; prices not disclosed

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

$0.23m
Single documented item.
Payments to villagers (USD 22 per ha × 10,415 ha) estimate$0.23m
Calculated in the sources reviewed from the briefing's per-hectare figure; about 5.2% of the USD 4.4 million budget.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Reached the ground
$0.23m*
Currency: USD · Window: 20-year project budget. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

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 nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Sampled plots with almost total loss of tree cover (2014)
1 in 4
Linked to planting Rhizophora rather than Avicennia
Recommended replanting
Not done
Finding of the 2021 audit
Credit rating
BBB
BeZero, which flags "notable over-crediting risk"

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Key earnings undisclosed

Nature

  • Disputed How much mangrove was planted and how much survived?

Figures

  • Insufficient Area restored claimed ha: Cited by Livelihoods; not independently verified in the record.
  • Insufficient Trees planted: Cited by Livelihoods; not independently verified in the record.

Accounts

  • Disputed Did the project's money reach the villagers?

Record

  • Not disclosed Credit prices are not disclosed.
  • None on record No response from Livelihoods appears in the Counsell and Kill briefing used for the villager-payment figure.
  • Self-reported only The 79 million trees and 7,920 hectares are Livelihoods' own figures; the record contains no independent check of them.

Did the harm stop?

The record states that the replanting recommended after the 2014 verification had not been done by the 2021 audit.

Who paid?

The credits went to the corporate investors; villagers were paid USD 22 per hectare, about 5.2% of the budget.

Sources

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

Communities and civil society

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

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.

Carbon and conservation finance

Carbon credit
A certificate representing one tonne of carbon dioxide (or equivalent) that a project says it reduced, avoided or removed. Buyers use credits to balance their own emissions in climate claims.
REDD+
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation. A UN framework under which forest projects earn carbon credits for deforestation they say they prevented, measured against a projected baseline.
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