Cross River Mangrove Restoration

Inside the project

Cross River State, on Nigeria's southeastern coast, holds some of West Africa's most significant mangrove and rainforest systems. The COP28 memorandum of understanding covers roughly 57,000 hectares of mangrove, paired with the 20,000-hectare Osun reforestation effort.

aDryada is the nature-based developer, with Noblesse Green Energy as the local partner. Blue-carbon mangrove work carries a high monitoring burden because most of the carbon sits below ground, which makes credible measurement and verification central to the project's integrity.

The project is at an early, pre-issuance stage. It follows aDryada's removals-only model on long-term land commitments, with certification pursued during development.

Objectives

• Restore and protect around 57,000 hectares of mangrove
• Rebuild coastal protection and estuarine fisheries
• Establish rigorous below-ground carbon monitoring
• Develop certified blue-carbon removal credits
• Secure long-term community land commitments

Approach

• Mangrove restoration combines protection of remaining stands with replanting in degraded tidal zones, backed by the below-ground and hydrological monitoring that blue-carbon accounting demands.
• As with aDryada's other projects, the work is structured for verified removals over multi-decade horizons, with certification initiated during the development phase.