Turning over a new leaf for mangroves

At Wren, we love mangrove ecosystems, and it’s easy to see why. These incredible coastal ecosystems store up to 10× the amount of carbon per acre as tropical forests and 87% of that carbon is stored in the soil beneath their roots. Mangrove reforestation can boost carbon capture 60% more than traditional afforestation, making it a powerful tool in the fight against climate change.

Mangroves also act as natural shields, preventing over $65 billion in flood damage each year and protecting 15 million people worldwide. Their ability to safeguard coastlines, support biodiversity, and offer cost-effective solutions for climate adaptation makes restoring and protecting mangroves a crucial step toward a healthier planet, which is why we've added three mangrove restoration and conservation projects to our portfolios over the past two years.

One of these projects, Mangrove conservation in Mexico, is experiencing a delay in the process required for issuing carbon credits. Rest assured, the mangroves in Magdalena Bay are still standing, carbon is still stored in their soils, and they are still being protected against deforestation. This delay is due to a roadblock in bureaucratic processes with the Mexican government—specifically getting an agreement signed that can protect the mangroves forever. Mexico’s new president is a climate scientist, so the chances of her administration signing the agreement are high, but the credits can’t be issued until this process is complete.

In order to ensure we can deliver quantifiable impact to our members in a timely fashion, we are filling offsetting orders from this project with Mangrove planting in Pakistan. We will continue to fund Mangrove conservation in Mexico under our Additional contributions category.

Even though we are redirecting our funding to a different mangrove project, it is important to recognize the profound impact that our members have had in Magdalena Bay. Our project partner, MarVivo, was only able to access funding thanks to the early support of Wren and other buyers. If we hadn’t indicated that we were interested in purchasing carbon credits, investors would likely not have fronted up the funding needed to get critical activities off the ground.

We have seen the positive impact of this project's activities first-hand and are excited by its potential to fight climate change. That’s why we’re moving it into our Additional contributions category, which funds activities that are vital for creating a sustainable future but are hard to quantify in terms of carbon avoided or removed. Our continued funding means that our project partner can keep conducting important activities like science education, biodiversity monitoring, and remote mangrove sensing.

The market for carbon credits is complicated and sometimes projects fall behind. That’s why we take a portfolio approach to mitigate risk. When you offset with Wren, you purchase a blended carbon credit of multiple projects that span different sectors. This diversification helps to balance risk and impact, just like with an investment portfolio. You can find detailed project allocations on our Wren Classic and Wren Trailblazer portfolio pages.

If you have any questions about these changes, please email hello@wren.co and we’ll get back to you soon.