Mangrove restoration

what we do

Mangrove Restoration

Mangrove Restoration is Twende Green Planet’s core, on-the-ground planting programme, taking seedlings from our community nurseries and restoring degraded mangrove stands along Kenya’s coast, using the same community-ownership model that made Gazi Bay’s Mikoko Pamoja the world’s first verified community-led blue carbon project. It is the proof point for the restoration model Twende is building toward replicating across Africa’s blue carbon frontier.

Not every degraded site needs the same intervention. Some recover naturally once a stressor is removed, others need direct planting. We assess each site before deciding.

• Degradation cause and hydrology assessment
• Species matched to salinity, tidal range and substrate
• Decision between direct planting and assisted natural regeneration
• Site boundaries agreed with the local community

Where natural seed sources remain nearby, removing the stressor and letting the forest regenerate itself is often more effective, and cheaper, than planting alone.

• Direct planting with nursery-raised seedlings
• Assisted natural regeneration where seed sources remain nearby
• Planting timed to tidal and seasonal conditions
• Spacing and density matched to target species
• Early protection from grazing and physical disturbance

The same principle as every Twende Green Planet restoration programme: the community that depends on the forest leads its recovery.

• Local restoration committees overseeing each site
• Community-agreed rules on resource use during recovery
• Local employment in planting and site maintenance
• Livelihood links to nursery income and future sustainable harvest
• Conflict resolution where restoration affects existing resource use

We track survival the way Mikoko Pamoja does, rigorously enough that the numbers would hold up to independent verification, not just internal reporting.

• Season-by-season survival counts
• Growth and canopy recovery monitoring
• Site data reported to community committees and funders
• Long-term monitoring beyond the initial establishment period
• Verification-ready records maintained from year one

What Mangrove Restoration Covers

From Degraded Site to Standing Forest

Every site moves through four connected stages:

Degradation cause assessed before choosing an intervention.

Direct planting or assisted natural regeneration, whichever fits.

Local restoration committees lead recovery on every site.

Verification-grade tracking, season by season.

Why This Works

Built on Kenya's Own Verified Blue Carbon Model

We’re applying a proven model, not experimenting. It’s the same community-ownership approach that made Gazi Bay’s Mikoko Pamoja internationally verifiable blue carbon, adapted to each new site’s conditions.

• Modelled directly on Mikoko Pamoja, Kenya’s own pioneering, internationally verified blue carbon project
• Seedlings sourced from our own community-run nurseries, not bought in from outside the area
• Community-led: local committees, not outside contractors, oversee every site
• Verification-grade survival monitoring from the first planting season

Why This Works

Frequently Asked Questions

Through a site assessment covering degradation cause, hydrology and species suitability, the same process behind our wider Coastal Ecosystem Restoration approach.

Both. Where natural seed sources remain nearby, assisted natural regeneration is often more effective and cheaper than planting alone; where they don’t, we plant nursery-raised seedlings directly.

From our own Mangrove Nursery & Seedling Care programme: community-run nurseries producing seedlings matched to each restoration site’s conditions.

Season-by-season survival and growth counts, reported to the local restoration committee and to funders and partners on a regular schedule.

The local community first, through nursery income, restoration employment and the fisheries and coastal protection a healthy mangrove forest provides, and the climate, through carbon sequestration.

Mikoko Pamoja, at Gazi Bay, is the model this whole programme is built on: Kenya’s own proof that community-led mangrove restoration can meet international blue carbon verification standards.

The Model

Kenya's Own Verified Blue Carbon Track Record