Cordillera Azul National Park REDD Project

Audit Analysis

The Cordillera Azul National Park REDD+ project is a long-running (since 2008) avoided-deforestation project with VVB-confirmed additionality, a 10% buffer pool, and documented safeguards including FPIC and a grievance mechanism. However, detected anthropogenic deforestation (13.17 ha) and an illegal incursion event within the park during the 2018–2020 monitoring period, combined with a project-specific baseline, a 0% leakage deduction, and multiple unresolved contradictions across documents, moderate the overall quality. The project delivered 88.3% of its claimed emissions reductions for the latest monitoring period, indicating no material over-crediting.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠13.17 ha of anthropogenic deforestation and an illegal incursion event near control post Shanshuico were detected within the park during 2019–2020, representing actual reversal events that the 10% buffer pool must absorb
• ⚠Leakage deduction is 0% in the 2023 verification report, contradicting the 20% figure in the original PDD (2012); the 'quantified' justification is not further elaborated in the extracted record
• ⚠CCP status is contradictory: the 2018 verification report lists the project as CCP-approved, while the 2023 verification report does not mention CCP status, leaving dual-channel risk unclear
• ⚠Five corrective action requests (CARs) were raised in a single verification cycle, including gaps in the non-permanence risk report and missing evidence for natural risk cross-checks

Credit Vintages