SUNDARI MANGROVE RESTORATION PROJECT IN THE INDIAN SUNDARBANS

The Sundari Mangrove Restoration Project is a grouped project that aims to protect and restore 4.343 hectares of degraded urban mangroves located in the Sundarbans, West Bengal, India, by planting local species and rebuilding hydrological connectivity in the area. The first instance of the grouped project will be implemented in Sagar Island and Namkhana of South 24 Paraganas, and it will concern 417 ha. This project is a one of a kind, with a holistic approach ensuring successful restoration and conservation of the largest mangrove forest in the world. This project will be generating GHG emissions reductions by conserving and restoring degraded mangroves, as well as generating removals by increasing the biomass by planting millions of mangrove trees in the project area. The project is planned for an initial duration of 20 years and 4.1 million tCO2e are estimated to be removed over the crediting period, corresponding to an average of 209k tCO2 per year. Regarding the first instance of the grouped project, approx. 654K tCO2e are estimated to be removed over 20 years. Sundari aims to lower the pressure on the mangrove due to a high dependency of the populations on the mangrove forests for fuelwood collection and fishing. The project seeks to reduce these threats by conducting capacity building with local communities and improving sustainable local livelihoods to ensure the permanence of the carbon as well as the ecosystem services provided. Sundari is entirely community-based and was designed in close relationship with the local communities. The project developer, Meensou India Private Limited, is a local limited company implanted in the region with extensive expertise in mangrove ecology and carbon projects. EcoAct will act as co-project owner of the Sundari project and will oversee/help with the project validation and verification as well as administrate KPIs.