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 · Colombia · 2021

Vida Manglar mangrove project

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 3 none on record · 3 insufficient · 1 not measured See the gaps

A blue-carbon project in the Cispata mangroves of Colombia, run with Conservation International, issued 67,000 credits. The developer reports that all were sold and that 92% of proceeds go to local people; no published criticism was found.

92%Share of proceeds Conservation International says goes back to local people
Developer statement; not independently verified.

Status As of the latest record reviewed: 67,000 credits issued and reported sold; no published criticism found.

What?
A mangrove blue-carbon project issuing and selling carbon credits. Conservation International
Where?
Cispata, Colombia. Conservation International
When?
First credits issued in 2021; 2023 factsheet lists 67,000 credits sold. Conservation International
Who?
Gained
  • Local people (association agreements, local staff) — Conservation International says 92% of proceeds go back to local people Conservation International
Lost
None on record
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Mangrove protection and restoration financed through carbon credits. Conservation International
How?
Credits under the Verified Carbon Standard, with association agreements limiting wood harvesting. Conservation International
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Vida Manglar (Verified Carbon Standard project 2290) is a mangrove carbon project at Cispata, Colombia, run by Conservation International. According to the organisation, it protects 7,500 hectares now and plans 11,000 hectares, and claims about 1 million tonnes of CO2 over 30 years.

Conservation International describes it as the first blue-carbon project under the Verified Carbon Standard to issue credits, in 2021.

A 2023 factsheet from the World Business Council for Sustainable Development lists 67,000 credits issued, all sold. The first round, in May 2021, sold about 20,000 credits at about USD 15. Apple co-funded the project, mostly as a philanthropic donation.

Conservation International says 92% of proceeds go back to local people. The project has 14 association agreements and 11 local staff, and the organisation says it supports casual work for up to 12,000 people.

Developer-reported monitoring for the first period shows unplanned deforestation 69% below the projected baseline, and 242 to 254 hectares restored. The agreements limit wood harvesting.

  1. 2021First blue-carbon project under the Verified Carbon Standard to issue credits (May 2021: about 20,000 credits sold at about USD 15)
  2. 2023WBCSD factsheet: 67,000 credits issued, all sold

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • 92% of proceeds go back to local people; 14 association agreements; 11 local staff; casual work for up to 12,000 people.
    Conservation International · Conservation International

Recorded

  • 67,000 credits issued and 100% sold (WBCSD factsheet, 2023).
  • Unplanned deforestation 69% below the projected baseline in the first monitoring period; 242 to 254 ha restored (developer-reported).
    Conservation International
  • Agreements limit wood harvesting.
    Conservation International

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
No figure published.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Currency: USD · Window: . All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

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.

Unplanned deforestation vs baseline
-69%
First monitoring period; developer-reported
Area restored
242-254 ha
Developer-reported
Independent ecological evaluation
None found
No independent assessment appears in the sources reviewed

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
No court caseNo independent ecological evaluation

Nature

  • Not measured Harm to nature: No independent ecological evaluation is on record.

Court

Figures

  • Insufficient Deforestation vs baseline: Unplanned deforestation against projected baseline, first monitoring period; developer-reported.
  • Insufficient Area restored ha: Developer-reported.

Record

  • None on record No published criticism of the project was found in the sources reviewed.
  • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: all monitoring figures (69% reduction against baseline; 242 to 254 ha restored) are developer-reported.
  • None on record Total revenue from credit sales: not stated in the sources reviewed; only the May 2021 first-round volume and price are given.

Did the harm stop?

Not applicable: no harm is alleged in the sources reviewed.

Who paid?

Not established in the sources reviewed.

Sources

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

Company or project

  1. Vida Manglar carbon project
    Conservation International ·

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

Baseline
The projected scenario of what would have happened without a project, such as an expected rate of deforestation. Credits are issued for the difference between the baseline and what actually happened, so an inflated baseline produces more credits.
Buffer pool
A reserve of credits held back from sale by a carbon programme to cover future losses, such as forest burned or logged after credits were issued. It works as the programme's own insurance.
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.
Standard-setter and registry
An organisation that writes the rules for carbon credits, approves projects, and records when credits are issued and retired. Such bodies typically charge fees per credit.

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.