Rigorous Baseline Data: The Key to Successful Mangrove Conservation and Restoration Projects in West Africa.

Mangrove forests offer a wide range of ecosystem services that benefit both nature and communities living in and around them. Therefore, effective resource management is essential to sustain these invaluable benefits for future generations. Successful mangrove restoration and conservation relies on the foundation of rigorous baseline data. West Africa Blue (“Blue”) is a high-integrity developer of blue carbon projects in West and Central Africa, with two projects (Sierra Leone and Guinea) currently listed in the Verra registry. To ensure we provide the highest level of data possible for our carbon projects, we establish baselines for deforestation, restoration, carbon and biodiversity using rigorous analyses, including GIS-based tools, field data collection, and stakeholder and community engagement. Our system involves methodologies for assessing baseline deforestation and restoration potential, map validation, aboveground biomass, soil organic carbon, and biodiversity baseline. Utilizing public data and field validation exercises, our mapping processes are shown to generate mangrove change results with over 95% accuracy. Using standard operating procedures, we collect AGB data from the field to establish a regional AGB map using SAR and Lidar data. We collected data from Sierra Leone and Guinea and additional AGB data from Nigeria to establish a radar-AGB equation with RMSE of 70 tC/ ha and R² of 0.41. Leveraging on over 3000 samples of cores, our long-term goals is to establish a regional organic matter (% LOI) ~ organic carbon (% C_org) equation to give a quicker and more accurate estimate of mangrove soil organic carbon.. Further, we carried out a biodiversity baseline assessment in collaboration with a local conservation organization in Sierra Leone called the Conservation Society of Sierra Leone (CSSL) using a mix of innovative and traditional methodologies, including Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) surveys, camera traps, transects, and environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis with Nature Metrics. Establishing this comprehensive mapping, carbon and biodiversity baseline information helps build a strong foundation for effectively planning mangrove restoration and conservation.