The Livelihood Fund creates social value for rural communities and contributes to their food security through the restoration of their natural ecosystems. The Sundarbans in the state of West Bengal is the largest single block of mangrove forest in the world. The area is also famous for the last remaining tiger population living in a mangrove ecosystem and is located in the buffer zone of a Ramsar site. The Livelihoods Fund supports the local organization Nature Environment and Wildlife Society to restore up to 6,000 hectares of mangrove greenbelts. Mangroves are crucial for restoring fish populations, the main source of income for the local population. As the restoration work is financed through carbon credits, UNIQUE was contracted to support project development, implementation and certification against the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS).

• Development of the required VCS carbon project documentation.
• Assessment of mangrove growth and carbon modeling.
• Capacity building in periodic mangrove monitoring using smartphone based data collection.
• Periodic tree survival auditing.
• Project validation and management support.