Mikoko Pamoja mangrove project
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
A community mangrove carbon project in Gazi Bay, Kenya, certified by Plan Vivo, sets aside 117 hectares of mangrove and sells carbon credits. Reported revenue is about $15,000 a year, and about $117,000 has gone to community projects.
Reported figure (Science News, 14 September 2022). A separate record gives $210,000 to the community for 2013–2023.
Status As of October 2026: no independent audit and no court case appear in the sources reviewed; reported community payments of $117,000 (to September 2022) and $210,000 (2013–2023) have not been reconciled.
- Gazi/Makongeni community — More than 50% of revenue to community projects such as water and schoolbooks; about $117,000 in total reported to September 2022. Science News
- Project workers — About 21% of revenue to wages, an estimated $3,150 a year.
What happened
Mikoko Pamoja is a community mangrove project at Gazi/Makongeni, Gazi Bay, Kenya, certified under the Plan Vivo standard. One record gives its start as 2010; another gives 2013 as the year protection began. It sets aside 117 hectares for carbon inside the 615-hectare Gazi forest, sequesters about 3,000 tonnes of CO2 a year and covers 1,081 households.
Plan Vivo’s project page records 22,169 Plan Vivo Certificates issued to date. According to the research record, 9,880 credits were issued in 2014–2018 at a price above $7. Revenue is about $15,000 a year, and about $117,000 in total has gone to community projects, according to Science News on 14 September 2022. A separate record covering 2013–2023 gives 18,500 tonnes of CO2 and $210,000 to the community, with the money going to water, schools and health. A UN projection of about $130,000 a year does not match the reported figures.
The research record gives the split of revenue as about 21% to wages, more than 50% to community projects such as water and schoolbooks, and the rest to project costs. On revenue of about $15,000 a year that would be about $3,150 a year to wages and more than $7,500 a year to community projects; these are estimates built from the percentages. The record lists 56,000 seedlings planted and puts Kenya’s national mangrove loss rate at about 0.65% a year.
A 2025 analysis in npj Ocean Sustainability (Farahmand, Hilmi and Duarte) gives market context: by 15 March 2025, 6,961,950 blue carbon credits had been issued and 3,651,383 (about 48%) retired, across 94 registered projects of which 19 had issued credits. Plan Vivo prices were about $6 in 2014 and about $19 in 2023. Of 1,109,210 credits that could be traced, more than 97% went to buyers in high-income countries.
- 2010Project start, according to one record (Plan Vivo; Gazi/Makongeni, Kenya)
- 2013Another record gives 2013 as the year protection began (record window 2013–2023)
- 2014Credit issuance 2014–2018: 9,880 credits at above $7; Plan Vivo prices about $6 in 2014 (market-wide)
- 2022Science News (14 September) reports revenue of about $15,000 a year and about $117,000 to community projects
- 2023End of the 2013–2023 record: 18,500 t CO2 and $210,000 to the community; Plan Vivo prices about $19 (market-wide)
- 2025March: 6,961,950 blue carbon credits issued worldwide, 48% retired (npj Ocean Sustainability)
What was said
Where accounts differ
Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.
Revenue about $15,000 a year; about $117,000 in total to community projects.
Science News$210,000 to the community, with the money going to water, schools and health.
About $130,000 a year, which does not match the reported figures.
How it looked
Shown
- Projected revenue of about $130,000 a yearA UN projection cited in the sources reviewed (publisher not identified)
Recorded
- 117 ha set aside for carbon inside the 615 ha Gazi forest; about 3,000 t CO2 sequestered a year; 1,081 households covered
- 22,169 Plan Vivo Certificates issued to date
- 9,880 credits issued in 2014–2018 at a price above $7
- Revenue about $15,000 a year; about $117,000 in total to community projects
- Separate record, 2013–2023: 18,500 t CO2; $210,000 to the community, for water, schools and health
- About 21% of revenue to wages, more than 50% to community projects such as water and schoolbooks, the rest to project costs
- 56,000 seedlings planted; Kenya’s national mangrove loss rate about 0.65% a year
Who gained
Reached nature or the ground
Gained elsewhere
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
Insurers
What nature saw
Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Accounts
- Disputed How much money has the project generated for the community?
Record
- None on record Start date: one record gives 2010, another gives 2013 as the year protection began.
- None on record Money to the community: about $117,000 to September 2022 in one report, $210,000 for 2013–2023 in another.
- None on record A UN projection of about $130,000 a year does not match the reported figures of about $15,000 a year.
- None on record The research record gives no response from the project or Plan Vivo to any of these discrepancies.
Did the harm stop?
The record gives no loss rate for the project’s 117 hectares; it gives a national mangrove loss rate of about 0.65% a year.
Who paid?
Buyers of the credits paid about $15,000 a year in revenue; the sources do not name the buyers.
Sources
Press and investigations
- Science News report on Mikoko PamojaScience News · 2022-09-14
Researchers
- Blue carbon credit market analysis (Farahmand, Hilmi and Duarte)npj Ocean Sustainability · 2025
Standard-setters and registries
- Mikoko Pamoja (project page)Plan Vivo ·