About MAIS Eco
We came for the communities.
The carbon came later.
Our story
Climate change will reach every corner of the planet, but it won't land evenly. The low-lying coastal communities of the Gulf of Guinea are among the first to feel it.
Restoring their mangroves rebuilds the fisheries, the storm defences and the coastline those communities depend on. Carbon finance can pay for that work for decades, if it's done honestly. That's the whole idea behind MAIS Eco.
2020–22
Community development roots
Neil Danby spends two decades on agroforestry and rural development projects across West Africa, from Nigeria to Benin. Time and again, poor coastal communities ask for the same chance as inland farmers, but their land is too wet or too salty to farm.
2022
The blue carbon reframe
Neil Danby meets Dr Bremley Lyngdoh, and a constraint becomes an opportunity: degraded coastal wetland can support mangrove restoration, local jobs and long-term carbon finance.
JUL 2022
First steps in Benin & Togo
Our first fact-finding mission, with Dr Christian Viaho, explores mangrove sites on Lake Ahémé and the Benin coast.
Read more →OCT 2023
A tale of three kings
Three agreements with the kings of Dohi, Agbanidjèhoué and A.K.N.N.N give us exclusive restoration rights on their coastal land.
Read more →2024
Ghana becomes the platform
Ghana offers a robust legal framework for carbon credits and a government keen for developers to help deliver its Article 6 agreements, including with Singapore.
Read more →2025–26
Keta Lagoon pilot
FPIC, landowner agreements, legal and carbon-rights analysis, GIS mosaics and a PDD under VM0033. The pilot moves towards implementation.
Read more →
The team
Field experience, technical depth, financial discipline.
Neil Danby
DIRECTOR OF PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
Neil leads origination, commercial partnerships and implementation, including investor engagement, government and community relationships, land access and delivery partnerships. He has more than 20 years of project experience across West Africa.
Dr Bremley Lyngdoh
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
Bremley leads technical development: restoration design, the VM0033 methodology, PDD preparation, field implementation and standards compliance. He has more than 20 years of experience in mangrove restoration and blue carbon projects.
Dr Bernard Hicks
FINANCIAL DIRECTOR
Bernard leads commercial strategy, financial modelling and carbon economics, and oversees investment structuring, legal and governance frameworks, carbon-rights analysis and investor reporting.
Cormac Hicks
INVESTOR RELATIONS DIRECTOR
Cormac backed MAIS Eco's first fact-finding mission to West Africa through his family investment fund, and leads relationships with our investors.
Dr Prince John Tetteh
DIRECTOR & GOVERNMENT LIAISON
Prince John leads our relationships with Ghana's government agencies and public-sector partners.
Dr Christian Comlan Viaho
PLANTATION MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR
An ecologist based in Benin, Christian ran the mangrove planting trials on Lake Ahémé that first convinced us coastal restoration could work at scale.
Partners
Specialists for every link in the chain.
LEGAL
B&P Associates
Community agreements, carbon rights and legal diligence
TECHNICAL
EcoFriend World
VM0033 experience, mangrove restoration and field-team training
MRV
Arkadiah
Satellite monitoring, implementation tracking and investor visibility
RESEARCH
University of Cape Coast researchers
Literature review, in-country allometry and PDD review
HYDROLOGY
Blue Deal · Dutch Water Authorities
Songor feasibility and hydrological restoration
VERIFICATION
SGS
Independent validation and verification body
Government & market interfaces