The project aims to establish the vital baseline and documentation necessary to eventually access carbon and biodiversity credits for different marine and coastal ecosystems on Misool Island in Raja Ampat, Indonesia. This will support conservation, afforestation and restoration activities in mangrove areas; marine biodiversity monitoring and protection for marine areas; and monitoring and improvement in seagrass health.
The long-term goal is to fund a large-scale restoration and conservation project across the wider seascape and coastlines for a period of 30 years or more, by leveraging markets based on carbon or other ecosystem services payments. This will lead to a more financially resilient ecosystem protection programme for targeted areas of Misool Island in the Raja Ampat Regency, and potentially a project extension to Salawati Island in the Papua province, Sorong Regency.
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Main activities
- Preparing a full High Conservation Value (HCV) assessment report, to provide a comprehensive analysis of the areas of highest conservation value within the project site. This will require an assessment team to gather environmental and other relevant data, which will allow assessment of the biodiversity status, including various biological taxa and their biodiversity, the ecological importance and conservation significance of the area.
- Creating a full Draft Biodiversity Monitoring Plan, to outline a systematic approach for monitoring and evaluating the impacts of project activities on biodiversity within the project area. Preparation of the Monitoring Plan commences after completion of the HCV assessment report.
- It will detail the monitoring protocols, sampling methodologies, and indicators to be used in assessing changes in biodiversity over time.
- Relevant experts and stakeholders will review the plan to gauge its effectiveness and alignment with international biodiversity monitoring standards.
- The plan may consequently be instrumental in obtaining certifications such as Climate, Community & Biodiversity (CCB) or Plan Vivo (PV) Nature.
- Completing a Project PD (Project Design) to outline the project’s objectives, strategies, and implementation details. It encompasses aspects such as project scope, timeline, budget, stakeholder engagement, monitoring and evaluation, and risk management. The document serves as a roadmap for effective project execution and provides a clear framework for achieving the project’s goals and objectives.
- Conducting an economic and social assessment of surrounding communities, with their involvement, made by the community development team to identify high-potential activities for community development and engagement.
- Exploring additional sources of revenue, beyond blue carbon credits for protection and restoration of coastal mangrove areas and seagrass beds. The partners are analysing the potential for biodiversity credits. These could be based on enhancement of fish biomass in MPA areas or an increase in species occurrence in sample areas, supported by Misool’s current verification methodology.
How BCAF supports this initiative
BCAF will fund two critical project milestones focused on finalizing data collection:
- A comprehensive biodiversity assessment;
- Development of a world class biodiversity monitoring program that will prepare the project for certification and audit under a leading international standard for environmental markets.
Impacts created
Nature
Nature
The project expects to…
Augment climate change resilience and adaptation KPI by:
- Growing the total hectares of mangrove forest under active management
- Increasingly seeing reforesting and replanting of mangroves and seagrass
- Seeing increasing percentages of total biomass inside the MPA
- Having a significantly increasing effect on total tonnage in CO2-e greenhouse gas removal.
Strengthen other ecosystem services beyond carbon and climate adaptation in:
- Reducing the number of endangered species in the project area,
- Seeing greater total tonnage of plastics recycled or suitably disposed of ,
- Measurably seeing reef area restored.
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People
People
The project will aim to…
Enhance local communities and livelihoods by:
- Creating jobs and careers linked to the work being done,
- Measurably increasing the percentage of female employment,
- Engaging the community, households, and individuals in various types of training,
- Involving village leaders in all discussions and decisions.
Having a positive social impact through:
- Supporting schoolchildren in education,
- Improving adult education and seeing numbers grow through engagement efforts,
- Increasing numbers of hospital patients treated ,
- Offering community health and household clean water programmes,
- Supporting livelihoods and households by employing requiring a percentage of female-held employment in the project.
Business
Business
The project plans to…
Incorporate at least three potential sources of revenue, by:
- Monetising blue carbon by protection and restoration of coastal mangrove areas using Verra’s methodology for tidal wetlands;
- Cultivating and protecting seagrass beds, with a monetisation methodology to be confirmed as the assessment parts of the project progress;
- Opening a path to Marine Biodiversity credits, supported by Misool’s current verification methodology, based on enhancement of fish biomass in the Protected Areas and/or an increase in species occurrence in sample areas.
More information
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