Blue Carbon Corridor North Sumatra
We began working to unlock the power of space-based remote sensing and machine learning for carbon monitoring in 2018, together with The Global Mangrove Trust in Singapore and our allies at Regen Network in the USA. In 2019, we began to accelerate the business case for space-based carbon crediting with the Global Lab for Climate Innovation.
In 2020, we teamed up with Kumi Analytics and Marex to bring the solution to market. Our first demonstration of the tech succeeded in predicting verified carbon sequestration rates at the Thor Heyerdahl Climate Park in Myanmar, one of the finest mangrove reforestation projects on Earth and the personal inspiration of our founders.
We are now deploying the KACSAT blue carbon crediting solution with two villages in North Sumatra – Pulau Kamai and Salahaj. In collaboration with Yayasan Gajah Sumatera (YAGASU), these adjacent communities have begun a rigorous effort to protect, regenerate, and monitor 2,280 hectares of mangrove forest.
Success in the launch of the KACSAT approach as a space-based, digital MRV system verified by OxCarbon will enable our our local partner, YAGASU, to scale conservation agreements across 25,000ha of mangroves in North Sumatra and Aceh. This full land area is known as the Blue Carbon Corridor. Funding the Blue Carbon Corridor will support immediate conservation efforts by over one hundred communities and villages and with massive positive impacts for biodiversity, climate action, and local welfare.
KACSAT’s dynamic carbon storage assessment in the Blue Carbon Corridor focuses on state change in the forest, combining mangrove conservation (approximately 95% of the total land area) and continuous afforestation (the remainder). This focus on conservation leads to initial carbon crediting arising primarily from avoided deforestation which generates a highly stable voluntary carbon issuance path, making it an excellent investment opportunity for institutional impact investors. Over time, an increasing amount of credits will come from the ongoing afforestation work.
Direct benefits for the communities accounts for a significant portion of the Blue Carbon Corridor pilot. Significant budgets support Community Mangrove Protection Units (forest rangers), active planting and nursery work, women’s artisanal livelihood groups and regenerative silvo-fishery programs.
Lifetime costs, as displayed in the graph, are modest and indicate strong margins for investor returns, cost shares, and potential buffers for managing future cashflow risks. Additional spending empowers local staffing, widespread community engagement, and education workshops for local law enforcement.
Lifetime project costs for the application of the OxCarbon-verified KACSAT solution within the Blue Carbon Corridor indicate a sustainable business case for high-scaling mangrove conservation at conservative prices. With current trends in blue carbon credit prices, the potential upsides are large.