Lead Partner Organisation: Blue Ventures
Blue Forest ecosystem focus: Mangrove
Total area covered: 26,000 ha (26,000 ha for improved understanding and 12,000 ha for improved ecosystem management at the same site)

The focus of the GEF Blue Forests Project small-scale intervention entitled ‘Madagascar Blue Forests Project’ is the application of blue forests methodologies and approaches for valuing carbon and other ecosystem services (ES). This will be accomplished through the project’s goals of improving the understanding of ES and carbon storage and sequestration for mangrove ecosystems in Madagascar, and by developing improved ecosystem management founded upon that understanding at three project sites.

The overall goal to which this project will contribute is to increase the resilience and adaptation capacity of coastal communities to climate change through the continued provision of ecosystem services on which they are dependent.

The intervention’s major focus is the advancing of a REDD+ project that will be verifiable by the Carbon Community and Biodiversity Standard (CCBS) and Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS). The purpose of this focus is to demonstrate both the importance and feasibility of mangrove REDD+ and so catalyze the development of income-generating mangrove REDD+ projects for Malagasy coastal communities. The long-term objective this project is to implement a VCS REDD+ project.