Our Work
From mangrove to verified credit
Three years of baseline data, carbon sampling, and community engagement have already been done. We are now in the final stretch: governance compacts, restoration sites, and monitoring systems that take MBREMP from conservation project to verified carbon programme. Certification targeted 2026–27.
Core Workstreams
Four systems, one credible programme
Governance & Legal Alignment
AFO works with MBREMP, TFS, district councils, village councils, VNRCs, VLCs, and BMUs to clarify mandates, update management plans, and establish transparent procedures for community decision-making, environmental and social safeguards, and benefit-sharing.
Each of the 15 villages finalises a Governance Compact (a formalised co-management and benefit-sharing agreement documenting roles, dispute resolution mechanisms, financial controls, and revenue-sharing procedures) before any carbon activity advances.
Hydrology-Informed Restoration
Kaboni Yetu targets restoration of 20–30 ha of degraded mangrove using hydrology-informed site selection and right-species/right-site zoning. This is not a planting campaign. It is science-backed restoration designed for long-term carbon permanence.
Two to three community nurseries produce 150,000–200,000 seedlings. Community para-scientists track survival, hydrology changes, and threats, with corrective actions built into the restoration cycle from the outset.
Community MRV & MEL Systems
We operationalise a verification-ready monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) system combining georeferenced restoration data, patrol and enforcement logs, leakage risk monitoring, social safeguards reporting, and baseline updates.
Community monitors trained by AFO generate primary field data that feeds directly into MRV processes required by Plan Vivo and NCMC, improving transparency and reducing future verification audit costs.
Livelihood Diversification & Investment Readiness
To reduce extractive pressure on mangroves, Kaboni Yetu pilots three nature-compatible livelihood pathways (beekeeping, crab fattening, eco-tourism micro-ventures, or seaweed value addition) with a minimum 60% women participation target.
The objective within the readiness phase is proof-of-concept business models: validated enterprises that form an investable pipeline scalable in the post-certification revenue phase.
Flagship Programme
Mnazi Bay Blue Carbon Programme
The Mnazi Bay-Ruvuma Estuary Marine Park (MBREMP) in Mtwara Region, southern Tanzania, hosts one of the Western Indian Ocean's most intact mangrove seascapes. MBREMP's mangroves underpin daily livelihoods: stabilising estuaries that function as fish nurseries, supporting shellfish and crab harvesting, and buffering coastal villages from storm surge and erosion.
The flagship programme covers approximately 4,030 hectares across 15 coastal villages in Mtwara Rural District, targeting dual certification under Plan Vivo and Tanzania's National Carbon Monitoring Centre (NCMC). MBREMP falls under the Marine Parks and Reserves Unit of the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, a central government marine park under Tanzania's GN 636 (2022) carbon trading regulations.
Three years of ORRAA-supported readiness work (carbon sampling, socio-economic assessments, legal analysis, and governance diagnostics) form the evidential base for the current certification readiness phase.
Programme Timeline
Key milestones, readiness phase
Secondary Project
Kunduchi Eco Park
Kunduchi Eco Park is a coastal nature-based enterprise on the Dar es Salaam coastline, Kaboni Yetu's second project track. It explores how managed coastal habitats can generate multiple revenue streams including eco-tourism, biodiversity credits, and nature-based products, while maintaining ecological integrity.
The site represents an opportunity to demonstrate the Kaboni Yetu origination model in a peri-urban coastal context, complementing the community-managed rural seascape model at MBREMP. Details of the Kunduchi project are in active development.
Project Development Status
Kunduchi Eco Park is in active feasibility and design development. Further details on carbon pathways, tenure arrangements, and enterprise models will be published as the project matures. Contact us for further information.
Regulatory Framework
Navigating Tanzania's carbon market
GN 636: Carbon Trading Regulations (2022)
Tanzania's primary carbon market regulation. Governs carbon rights, revenue distribution, project registration, and the roles of national and local authorities in carbon credit oversight across all project types.
Revenue Waterfall: Reg. 34(3)(d)
As a centrally managed marine park, MBREMP's projected revenue distribution under GN 636 Reg. 34(3)(d) is approximately: MBREMP ~51%, village governments ~6%, Mtwara Rural District Council ~4%, NCMC fees ~3.5%, Kaboni Yetu ~35.5% net.
Benefit-Sharing & CSR: Reg. 35
All activities comply with Regulation 35 CSR obligations and Plan Vivo benefit-sharing standards. Kaboni Yetu is pursuing a voluntary pass-through arrangement from MBREMP's statutory share to communities to strengthen social licence and community equity.