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$17.23

/metric ton of CO₂e

Indonesia

47,237 ha

Central Kalimantan Peatlands

Avoided Unplanned Deforestation

From a planned palm oil plantation to an Orangutan refuge in the carbon-rich peat swamps of Borneo

$17.23

/metric ton of CO₂e

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Overview

Central Kalimantan Peatlands

Indonesia

47,237 ha

Developer: InfiniteEARTH

Avoided Unplanned Deforestation

The Provincial government planned to convert the Central Kalimantan Peatlands, which can store 20x more carbon than typical forests, into palm oil estates. This project protects these natural carbon sinks that would have otherwise been drained and logged and creates a physical buffer along the world-renowned Tanjung Puting National Park’s eastern border offering sanctuary to countless plant and animal species. Beyond its carbon benefits, this project also devotes enormous effort to impactful livelihood programs in surrounding villages, addressing all 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Registry

Registry ID: 674

Certifications

Methodology

VM0004v1.0

Peatland offers a unique ecosystem that sequesters massive amounts of carbon. Much of a peatland forest is bog or marshland, the magic of carbon lives under water here.

Pachama's project evaluation criteriaPachama rigorously evaluates every project listed on our marketplace to ensure that we're surfacing only the highest quality projects. Our Evaluation Criteria includes a series of checks that every project must pass as well as a number of informative insights on project quality. You can see a preview of these checks below.

Accurate

The project's emissions reductions have been conservatively quantified

Baseline
The reported baseline emissions are less than or equal to Pachama's observed baseline emissions. There are some variations based on project type.
Past Project Emissions
The reported emissions inside the project area are greater than or equal to Pachama's observed emissions.
Carbon Inventory
The project estimated their carbon stocks using a field inventory or remote sensing approach that was statistically representative of the project area, and their carbon stock estimate included a confidence interval and had <15% standard error.

Additional

Emissions reductions would not have occurred without the incentive of carbon credits

Project Boundary
The boundary has not been artificially manipulated to increase crediting.
Financial and Legal Additionality
There was no funding for carbon project activities in the 10 years prior to the project start date, and there were no legal requirements for emissions reductions or removals.
Improved Forest Management Projects Only
Forest Maturity
The crediting period must extend at least 25% beyond the age of economic maturity for at least half of the project area.
Reforestation Projects Only
Forest Cover
There must be no deforestation within the project area and existing forest cover must be less than 10% in the 10 years prior to project start date.

Durable

The project delivers a long-lasting climate impact ensured by continuous monitoring and reporting

Recent Project Emissions
Pachama observed project emissions are less than the leakage-adjusted baseline meaning the project continues to provide a net climate benefit since their last credit issuance.
Fire Risk
Other Natural Risks
Buffer Pool

Net

The project hasn't simply moved deforestation from one place to another, producing no net climate benefit

Leakage Summary
Pachama currently examines and summarizes leakage calculations from registry-verified documents. Accounting for leakage is an inherently complex challenge with a range of methodologies. Pachama is using satellite observations to develop a consistent and easy-to-understand approach to quantifying leakage.

Beyond Carbon

The project causes no net harm and delivers biodiversity and community benefits

Free, Prior, Informed Consent
The project sufficiently demonstrated proper community engagement and consultation, and a grievance and redress mechanism is in place.
Certifications
Forest Management
Reforestation Projects Only
Ecological Impacts
For reforestation projects, the forest composition must be a majority native species, there must be at least 5 different species planted, and the species assemblage and density should be similar to what would typically be found in the local ecoregion.

1/5

Tech-verified evaluationEvery forest project listed on the Pachama Marketplace must align with our Evaluation Criteria to ensure we're surfacing only the highest quality projects. To assess a forest project, Pachama uses remote sensing to review a variety of factors including forest cover loss in and around the project area. This project passes our emissions quality checks because the reported emissions are in line with what Pachama observed.

Contains modified data from Hansen Global Forest Change v1.9 (2001-2021).

Visual Description

The figure above shows the project area outlined in white, and observed forest loss in red. The project has been active since 2009. Pachama analyzes forest loss data and removes false positives during our project evaluation process. Fire is one of the risks associated with forest carbon projects. While this particular project did experience some historical fire events, Pachama’s quality checks confirm the project has properly accounted for all emissions and continues to secure net climate benefits compared with the baseline scenario. Additionally, the project has invested in fire prevention efforts and in firefighting efforts.

Project story

Using carbon revenues to build an alternative to forest conversion

Indonesia is losing over 2.5M hectares of forest cover annually often due to clearing for agricultural use. This is an area roughly equivalent to the size of Belgium. In the absence of this project, palm oil companies would convert the area and, consequently, 14 local forest communities along the eastern edge of the reserve would face the threat of losing their land.

The project recognizes that local community involvement is necessary to launch and sustain a new mechanism for valuing forests, so local communities have been integral to the planning and development of various initiatives.

This project ultimately aims to use carbon credit revenues for project area protection, local community development, and provincial government infrastructure to build a viable alternative to forest conversion.

Aerial view of the Central Kalimantan Peatlands forest.

Impacts beyond carbon

Demonstrating excellent contributions to all 17 U.N. Sustainable Development Goals

The Central Kalimantan Peatlands Project funnels substantial and sustainable financial resources for project area protection, local community development, and provincial government infrastructure. The villages along the project's borders have been participating in and will continue to be integral to the planning and development of project activities. In September 2020, Central Kalimantan Peatlands became the first REDD+ project in the world to be audited for UN Sustainable Development Goal compliance under the SD Vista Standard and achieved the highest possible rating of contributing to all 17 UN SDGs.

Good health and well-being

Implementing a floating medical clinic to reach remote villages by boat and provide necessary health services to those with limited access (316 patients given medical care during a trial run).

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Quality Education

Educating over 10,908 people on topics including hydroponic and polybag agriculture, operating camera traps, fire response, water hydrant and well development, and scholarship selection processes.

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Clean water and sanitation

Distributing 300 new water filter units among villages, and piloting a water purifying system in Baung Barat which can provide 2,000 liters of clean water in 4-5hrs.

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Affordable and clean energy

57 houses and some public facilities, including roads, were provided illumination by the installation of one solar power plant of 12KWH per day in Ulak Batu village in 2018. Two more solar power plants and electrification systems are under development in other communities.

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Decent work and economic growth

Employing 71 community members, including 21 women, with a continued focus on developing and promoting alternative livelihoods directly related to the project.

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biodiversity

More than half of all mammals in Borneo live in this project area

This project expands the contiguous habitat of the neighboring national park eastward to the Seruyan River, which local communities rely heavily on for drinking, transportation, and fish stocks. This land preservation provides countless flora and fauna with a natural, undisturbed habitat where they can thrive. Central Kalimantan Peatlands protects the populations of five critically endangered, 12 endangered, and 37 vulnerable species (including 5% of the world’s total population of Orangutans). Other mammals in the area include the Asian Sun Bear, Sunda Pangolin, Clouded Leopard, Proboscis Monkey, Hairy-Nosed Otter and many species of bats.

37
Vulnerable species

122
Mammals

180
Tree & plant species

tree spotlight

Peatlands

Among the largest near-surface reserves of terrestrial organic carbon, peatlands are made up of organic matter from partially decomposed remains of trees that accumulate to a thickness of 10m+. These forests are also home to a wide range of plant and animal life.

how this project helps

Regular daily patrols cover large expanses of this remote peat swamp on foot and by motorized canoe to prevent illegal activity and conduct a range of biological, resource and social surveys. Working together with project communities has strengthened local ties and support for the project.

tree spotlight

Bornean Orangutan

The only great ape outside of Africa, whose populations have declined 95% in the last century, is critically endangered due to human activities. Tanjung Puting National Park (adjacent to the project area) houses one of the largest protected populations.

how this project helps

Orangutan Foundation International (OFI) collaborates with the project on the implementation of forest monitoring, reporting and protection activities on the ground.

project files

Verification Report 2015-2019

pdf

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Project Description

pdf

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Verification Report 2009

pdf

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Verification Report 2013-2014

pdf