The Katingan Mentaya Conservation project protects and restores 149,800 hectares of peatland ecosystems in Indonesia. The surrounding land was drained and converted to palm and other plantations, and the project prevents the protected area from the same fate. The are is a vitally important and dense carbon sink. While peatlands represent only 0.3% of the earthโs surface, their destruction contributes between 2-5% of annual anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Katingan is one of the highest-regarded, large-scale avoided deforestation projects in the world.
CNaught maintains a very high quality standard for all projects in the portfolios we manage. To ensure that a project meets this standard, we perform due diligence thatโs backed up by third-party ratings agenciesโ independent diligence.
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Additionality
This project has high additionality, meaning it is very unlikely that this project activity could have occurred in the absence of carbon funding. Without the project, the forests would have been harvested and the peatlands drained, burned, and converted into acacia plantations for paper production and other industrial uses. There is no evidence of any regulations or financial incentives for the project activity. All ratings agencies agree that this project is highly additional, and Calyx Global even noted that Katingan is โamong our highest rated REDD / Avoided Deforestation projectsโ because it is providing such critical forest protections.
โOver-Crediting
This project has a low risk of over-crediting, which both BeZero and Sylvera attest to in their ratings. Calyx Global and Renoster consider that risk to be slightly higher, as forest conservation projects typically have some calculation risk associated with their baseline calculation methods. We reviewed this projectโs baseline estimation methods and found that their baseline was conservatively calculated and should minimize the projectโs risk of being over-credited.
โDurability
This project activity is durable as we are confident in its ability to provide permanent emissions reductions. Calyx Global and Renoster both give this project a medium risk score due to fire risk that could reverse the emissions reductions of the project. During our due diligence process, we found that the project has heavily invested in fire prevention and mitigation, which we believe is sufficient to minimize the projectโs fire risk.
โDouble-Counting
The project credits have a very low risk of being double counted. There are no regulatory obligations being met by the project activity and the projectโs registry, Verra, has mechanisms in place to ensure that the project is not registered in any other programs. We also confirmed that the project does not overlap with any other REDD projects to ensure that its conservation credits are not claimed by other projects.
The project is in an area with very high deforestation pressure, as the majority of the surrounding area has experienced heavy forest loss. The minimal forest loss in the project area shows that the project has been successful at preventing illegal deforestation.
Community and biodiversity co-benefits
This project delivers significant community, biodiversity, and environmental benefits.
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Community: This project provides several sustainable livelihood opportunities for the local community including microfinance programs, agricultural training, and support for small businesses. It also invests in community education and healthcare initiatives, improving overall quality of life. The project also engages community members in forest protection and sustainable resource management, fostering a sense of ownership and environmental stewardship.
Biodiversity: This project protects a vast area of peat swamp forest, a critical habitat for numerous species. This includes endangered wildlife such as orangutans, proboscis monkeys, and Sunda pangolins. By preventing deforestation and maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem, the project preserves biodiversity at both species and landscape levels. โ
Environmental: This project supports scientific research and monitoring programs, furthering our understanding of tropical peatland ecosystems and their conservation.
Nature-based projects like this one face some risk of reversal. Carbon storage may be affected by natural hazards such as wildfires, flooding, and escalating climate change impacts. Additionally, human-driven factors such as changes in land use or local governance structures can also impact carbon storage.
Organizations that have purchased credits from this project
CNaught’s take: Another interesting interview with the Katingan project developer. In this interview, we also learn about the challenges and successes that this project has faced, but they also delve more deeply into how the project has benefited the local community and how the project is evolving over time.
CNaught’s take: In this interview with the Katingan project developer, we learn about the success that Katingan and other conservation projects have had in Indonesia. We also learn about a lot of the challenges facing forest conservation efforts in Indonesia including struggles to find financing and prevent fires from nearby farms from spreading into projectsu2019 forests.
CNaught’s take: Although Katingan is a very high quality project, REDD+ projects in general have received a lot of criticism in recent years for being over-credited. In response to this, Verra created a new and improved methodology that all REDD+ projects registered under Verra will need to adhere to. Currently, this methodology only applies to unplanned deforestation projects. For planned deforestation projects such as Katingan, Verra expects that methodology update to be released in 2025. We do not expect that this methodology change will materially change Katinganu2019s credits or overall quality in any way, but are closely following developments to ensure that our customers are aware if anything changes.
CNaught’s take: In 2022, the Indonesian government paused all credit issuances for post-2020 vintages to give the country time to implement updated carbon market legislation. Because of this, Katingan has not issued any credits for several years. This article is good news for the project as it suggests that new vintages of Katingan should be available soon!
This project contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals
End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.
Learn more about UN SDG 2
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
Learn more about UN SDG 3
Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
Learn more about UN SDG 4
Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
Learn more about UN SDG 5
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
Learn more about UN SDG 6
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.
Learn more about UN SDG 8
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
Learn more about UN SDG 13
Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.
Learn more about UN SDG 15
Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.
Learn more about UN SDG 16
Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development.
Learn more about UN SDG 17Project data sourced from CNaught carbon marketplace. Information may be updated periodically.
