Des Moines Forest Carbon Offsets

Audit Analysis

The Des Moines urban forest project demonstrates solid additionality (VVB-confirmed combined test) and a jurisdictional baseline, with the project delivering roughly 192% of its pro-rata carbon expectation over the first four-year monitoring period. However, leakage treatment is entirely absent from the available documents, reversal risk is not explicitly assessed by the verifier, and the 5% buffer pool is modest for a 26-year crediting period. Several eligibility and MRV fields (CORSIA, CCP, FNRB) remain unstated, limiting full confidence in claim safety.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Leakage deduction is not stated in any available document despite this being a tree-planting project where displacement of existing vegetation or community land-use changes is a plausible risk
• ⚠Reversal risk is not explicitly assessed in the verification report; the 5% buffer pool is present but the verifier did not discuss specific reversal scenarios or mortality risk beyond confirming the 20% estimated mortality rate was met
• ⚠Contradiction in ERR figures between the validation report (1,391 tCO₂e lifetime) and the verification report (413 tCO₂e for the monitoring period) — explainable as lifetime vs. period basis, but the merged record initially conflated the two

Credit Vintages