King County Rural Forest Carbon Project

Audit Analysis

The King County Rural Forest Carbon Project has VVB-confirmed additionality, a 12% buffer pool, and no reported reversals, but is undermined by 12 material findings (including ineligible areas and missing leakage assessment), 18 corrective actions, a 100-year crediting period, and contradictory safeguards documentation. The most recent verification report (2025) reverses earlier positive findings on FPIC, grievance mechanisms, and benefit sharing, raising serious concerns about stakeholder protections. Overall, the project's carbon accounting framework is present but its integrity and documentation quality are significantly compromised.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠12 material findings in the verification report, including ineligible areas within project polygons and missing leakage assessment
• ⚠18 corrective actions required by TÜV SÜD, indicating the verification was not a clean pass
• ⚠100-year crediting period (2015–2114) with contradictory crediting periods between the project description and validation report
• ⚠Most recent verification report (2025) reports FPIC not conducted, no grievance mechanism, and no benefit sharing — reversing earlier positive findings
• ⚠Leakage justification is internally contradictory: a 20% deduction is applied yet the justification is 'deemed negligible'

Credit Vintages