Andyll Layuku Quamie
Mangroves are among the most productive coastal ecosystems in the world. They protect shorelines from erosion and storms, store significant amounts of blue carbon, support fisheries, and sustain the livelihoods of coastal communities. Despite their importance, mangroves in northern Mozambique are increasingly threatened by overharvesting, land conversion, and climate-related pressures.
This project will assess whether Payment-by-Performance (PBP) incentives can strengthen community-led mangrove conservation in Nampula Province, Mozambique. While PBP approaches have been applied in terrestrial forestry and watershed management, they have rarely been tested in mangrove ecosystems. This study will generate practical evidence on whether linking financial incentives directly to measurable conservation outcomes can improve ecological restoration and community engagement.
The main aim of this project is to understand whether paying communities based on measurable conservation results can improve mangrove restoration and strengthen local participation. Rather than providing support upfront, payments would depend on clear ecological indicators, such as how many planted saplings survive, whether canopy cover increases, and whether cutting decreases. The project will assess whether this results-based approach encourages communities to take collective responsibility for protecting and restoring mangroves. It will also explore how fair and practical this system is from the perspective of community members.
Fieldwork will include ecological monitoring in 2–4 restored plots and 1–2 naturally regenerating areas. Indicators will include sapling survival, canopy cover, natural recruitment, and visible threats such as cutting or erosion. These measures will provide practical evidence of restoration effectiveness and habitat condition.
At the same time, structured socio-economic surveys and interviews will examine how community members respond to performance-based incentives. The research will assess changes in conservation attitudes, participation levels, and resource-use behaviour. This will help determine whether linking payments to clear ecological targets strengthens accountability and long-term engagement.
Project findings will be shared through community feedback meetings, written reports, and open-access outputs for NGOs and government stakeholders. Lessons from this pilot will inform the development of adaptable Payment-by-Performance models for mangrove conservation in other coastal areas of Mozambique and across Africa.