Mission Statement
Empower indigenous people and communities in West Africa to improve, preserve and optimize sustainable coastal ecosystems, biodiversity and supporting infrastructure.

Vision Statement
Capitalize on the financial flows from the voluntary carbon market to improve livelihoods of beneficiary communities while striking a balance between conservation goals and local needs and demands for resources that support livelihoods, food security and improved human well-being.

• Up to 1.0 million community members positively impacted.
• Improved biodiversity with long-term sueconomic support and monitoring systems.
• Improved status of IUCN threatened species.
• Sustainable practices for fin and shellfish harvesting with increases in available stock.
• Reduction in erosion and flooding threats.
• Improvement in local primary/secondary education and vocational training programs.
• Reduction in child labor and trafficking.
• Improved carbon sequestration and storage in 10,000 hectares of mangrove forest.
• An additional +/- 3,000,000 tonnes of carbon sequestration and storage over 20 years.

We aim to achieve the following:

• Development and approval of “high-quality” blue carbon credits through a globally recognized registry with the support of an experienced and recognized carbon developer.
• Educate and train school children and staff about responsible environmental stewardship, waste management, sanitation, and water cycles.
•  Educate and train adult community members on caring for their environment including: water cycles and protections, mangrove and coconut tree nursing and planting, best practices to maintain healthy sanitation, animal penning strategies, and the impacts of human activity on environmental patterns including flooding, erosion, and climate-change.
• Plant, over 24 months, 2,000+ hectares of Rhizphora racemose (red mangrove) and Avicennia germinans (white mangrove) in established and degraded mangrove forests amounting to approximately 1,000 hectares of mangroves in the Keta Lagoon Complex, 1,000 hectares in the Songor Lagoon, and 2 hectares of land per island community in the Volta delta estuary.
• Plant approximately 1,000 coconut trees, where appropriate, on each of the 6 project island communities in the Volta Delta.
• Aid livestock keepers to establish a method of penning and responsible grazing to keep the animal waste away from the shoreline.
• Aid coconut producers in establishing sustainable practices which contribute to environmental health through planting coconut trees and demarcating locations for coconut tree seedling nurseries.
• Develop waste management programs, including human and household waste, with sustainable practices for all target communities.
• Support local small business entrepreneurship.
• Develop bamboo and mixed crop farms that will provide alternative incomes for community members, reduce the need for mangrove harvesting for fuel, and support best practices for sustainable fin and shell fishing.
• Engage local fishermen and women to research and develop an acceptable alternative for mangrove use in the fish smoking process.

• Plant an additional 3,000 hectares of indigenous mangrove species years 3-5.
• Develop successful sustainable community projects that engage all seventeen UN Sustainable Development Goals by empowering and sustaining the ecosystems, organisms, and processes that strengthen human wellbeing.
• Develop, train, and employ local community members for monitoring and reporting on conservation efforts to project partners.
• Create and maintain local nurseries for mangrove, coconut and bamboo seedlings with community participation and employment.
• Educational program curricula development and deployment for biodiversity, waste management and conservation with local municipal participation.
• Establish a sustainable, community-driven waste management and sanitation system.
• Micro-venture support to community members for waste management initiatives.
• Provide on-going financial support for local wildlife offices and community schools.
• Fairly compensate local family/clan owned lands.

• Mangrove forest coverage expanded by 50% in the focus areas over 10 years.
• Increased food security.
• Increased household incomes.
• Improved local fin and shellfish stocks.
• Establish an acceptable replacement for mangrove use in fuel and cooking.
• Establishment of medium scale farms (50-100 hectares) of bamboo, indigenous tree, and agricultural species to support local farmers.
• Development of value-add industries within communities including charcoal production, biochar, construction materials.
• Reduced exposure to flooding.
• Reduced rate of child labor and slavery.
• Increased educational and vocational opportunities.

The global loss of mangroves over the past century has been dramatic. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed mangroves as “threatened” for the past fifteen years.12 Yet, mangroves are nature’s precious gems of biodiversity and coastal ecosystems.

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Standard Blue Investments, a social enterprise, is a registered Ghanaian company. Ghana is also the home country of the founder of Standard Blue and most of our participating partners. Ghana is considered one of the most stable governments in Africa and the economics of the country were improving prior to the COVID pandemic. Today post-COVID Ghana is experiencing runaway inflation (over 100% for 2022) and a dramatically devalued currency (more than 50% against US currency).

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