Vivent Carbon restores mangrove ecosystems across Southeast Asia — protecting coastlines, rebuilding fisheries, and generating blue carbon credits that sequester CO₂ up to 5× faster than tropical forests.
Mangrove forests are among the most carbon-dense ecosystems on Earth. Their unique biology — growing at the intersection of land and sea — allows them to sequester carbon in both above-ground biomass and, critically, in the anoxic sediments below, where organic matter is preserved rather than decomposed. This "blue carbon" can accumulate for thousands of years, making mangroves exceptionally valuable as long-term carbon stores.
Per hectare, mangroves can sequester 10–30 tCO₂e annually — up to 5× the rate of tropical forests — while delivering irreplaceable services for coastal communities: protecting shorelines from storm surge and erosion, providing nursery habitat for commercially important fish species, and sustaining the livelihoods of fishing families who depend on healthy coastal ecosystems.
Vivent Carbon restores degraded and deforested mangrove areas across Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Myanmar — working with coastal fishing cooperatives, indigenous communities, and local government to co-design restoration schemes that genuinely serve community needs alongside carbon goals.
Mangrove restoration is more than planting — it starts with restoring the tidal hydrology that allows mangroves to survive and thrive.
Remote sensing and field surveys identify degraded mangrove areas, assess historical coverage, tidal flow, sediment condition, and salinity to determine restoration feasibility and methodology.
Fishing cooperatives and coastal communities are primary project partners — not just beneficiaries. FPIC agreements signed, sea-use rights documented, and community management committees formed.
Before any planting, blocked tidal channels are reopened and earthen bunds removed. Restoring tidal flow is the single most important factor for mangrove survival and carbon accumulation in sediments.
Community nurseries propagate native Rhizophora, Avicennia, and Sonneratia species. Planting follows seasonal tidal windows. Community members paid as restoration workers throughout.
Canopy cover tracked quarterly via Sentinel-2 and drone imagery. Sediment carbon cores taken annually to measure below-ground blue carbon accumulation — often the larger carbon pool in mangroves.
Third-party verification under VCS VM0033 every 5 years. Credits issued for both above-ground biomass and sediment carbon, capturing the full value of blue carbon sequestration.
Community-managed fishery zones established within restored mangroves. Revenue from sustainable harvesting supplements carbon income and creates incentives for long-term stewardship.
≥68% of carbon credit revenue paid to community management committees within 30 days of credit settlement. Fishery revenue distributed monthly via cooperative structures already in place.
No other ecosystem delivers this many ecosystem services simultaneously — making mangrove credits highly attractive for buyers seeking co-benefit richness.
A 100m belt of mangrove forest can reduce wave height by 13–66%, protecting coastal communities from storm surge, flooding, and erosion — a benefit that grows as sea levels rise. SDGs: 13, 11.
Mangroves serve as nursery habitat for 75% of tropical commercial fish species. Communities within restored mangrove zones report 30–50% increases in nearshore fish catch within 3–5 years.
Restored mangroves support 341+ fish species, dugongs, sea turtles, and critically endangered shorebirds. Sediment stabilisation prevents coral reef siltation downstream of project sites.
Mangrove-dependent activities — shellfish collection, crab aquaculture, and nursery propagation — are primarily led by women. Vivent's programmes increase women's economic participation by an average 28%.
Carbon credits, sustainable fisheries, eco-tourism, and mangrove honey production create 4+ independent income streams for participating communities, significantly reducing economic vulnerability.
Mangrove root systems filter terrestrial runoff, removing nitrogen, phosphorus, and heavy metals before they reach coral reefs and seagrass meadows — protecting downstream marine ecosystems.
Southeast Asia holds 33% of the world's remaining mangrove forests — and has lost more than any other region. Vivent focuses here because the restoration potential is highest.
Our largest blue carbon programme spans 6,400 ha across North Sulawesi's Manado Bay and East Kalimantan's Mahakam Delta. Partnering with 42 fishing villages and the Ministry of Environment's mangrove rehabilitation fund.
Restoration in typhoon-impacted coastal areas of Leyte and Samar, where mangrove loss has increased community exposure to storm surge. UNDP co-funded. Integrated with community-based disaster risk reduction.
Restoration and protection in the buffer zones adjacent to the Sundarbans World Heritage Site — the world's largest mangrove forest — addressing degradation from shrimp aquaculture expansion and illegal clearing.
Vivent's North Sulawesi programme enrolled 42 fishing villages across Manado Bay in 2021. Rather than contracting external planting crews, the programme trained and employed 1,200 community members as restoration workers — propagating native Rhizophora apiculata and Avicennia marina in 28 community nurseries before planting across 3,800 ha of degraded inter-tidal zones.
Four-year monitoring shows a survival rate of 82% — 40% higher than government-managed restoration sites in the same region that used contracted crews with no community involvement. Communities also report a 44% increase in nearshore fish catch from the restored mangrove nursery zones, adding an estimated $180 per household annually in additional fishery income on top of carbon revenues.
Mangrove credits from Vivent are among the richest co-benefit credits in the voluntary market — verified under VCS VM0033 with CCB Gold, backed by real community livelihoods data.