Agrocortex REDD Project

Audit Analysis

The Agrocortex REDD Project is a VCS-registered sustainable forest management project in the Brazilian Amazon with a verified investment-test additionality and a 5% quantified leakage deduction, but it carries material concerns including approximately 200 ha of unplanned deforestation since project start, a buffer pool that was reduced from 15% to 10% between verification cycles, and a project-specific baseline. The absence of both claimed and verified ERR figures in the extracted record, combined with three outstanding corrective actions (including missing ERR calculation spreadsheets), limits confidence in the project's actual credit delivery.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Unplanned deforestation of approximately 200 ha reported in the 2022 verification report material findings, directly undermining the REDD avoidance claim
• ⚠Buffer pool reduced from 15% (2018 verification) to 10% (2022 verification), weakening the permanence safety net
• ⚠ERR calculation spreadsheets were not provided to the VVB, and both claimed and verified ERR figures are absent from the extracted record
• ⚠Project secured less than 15% of the funding needed to reach breakeven, raising long-term viability and permanence concerns
• ⚠930 fire outbreaks recorded in the reference region during the monitoring period, indicating elevated reversal risk in the project area

Credit Vintages