India Sundarbans Mangrove Restoration

Audit Analysis

The India Sundarbans Mangrove Restoration project (VCS-1463) is a small-scale (4.81 ha) mangrove restoration project with VVB-confirmed additionality and no reported reversal events, but it carries notable concerns: nine assessment findings, ten NCRs, and six corrective actions from the validation process, a project-specific baseline, and a buffer pool that decreased from 15% to 10% between monitoring periods. The claimed and verified ERR figures match exactly at 399,773 tCO₂e for the 2018–2021 period, and CORSIA eligibility is confirmed, though CCP status is not stated.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Nine assessment findings and ten NCRs were raised during validation, with six corrective actions (CAR 01–06) still required to the satisfaction of Verra, indicating unresolved documentation or methodological gaps.
• ⚠Buffer pool percentage decreased from 15% (2018 monitoring report) to 10% (2023 verification report), reducing the permanence safety margin without a clearly documented justification in the extracted record.
• ⚠CORSIA eligibility is confirmed while CCP status is not stated in any available document, creating an unresolved dual-channel allocation risk.
• ⚠Leakage justification shifted from 'deemed negligible' (2015 verification) to 'quantified' (2023 verification) while the deduction remained at 0%, raising questions about whether the quantification actually identified and excluded leakage.

Credit Vintages