Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve Project

Audit Analysis

The Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve is a long-running VCS avoidance project with VVB-verified additionality, a 10% buffer pool, and documented safeguards, but its integrity is undermined by a 2013 reversal event (278,886 t CO2e), a project-specific baseline, and a 'Late to verify' registry status. Significant contradictions across 12 data fields—particularly in ERR figures and crediting period—reduce confidence in the reported numbers. The project delivered roughly 81% of its pro-rata ex-ante expectation for the 2019–2021 monitoring period, indicating no clear over-crediting, but the data reliability issues warrant caution.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Registry status is 'Late to verify', meaning the project is not currently in good standing with the VCS registry
• ⚠A reversal/loss event of 278,886 t CO2e was reported in the 2013 verification report, contradicting the 2018 report's 'none reported' statement
• ⚠Twelve contradictions across documents, including a 3.5× discrepancy in total ERR claimed (36.5 M vs 127.3 M t CO2e) and a 30-year vs 60-year crediting period conflict
• ⚠Baseline is project-specific rather than jurisdictional, and the last baseline reassessment date is not stated in any available document
• ⚠Corrective actions were required: three CARs and three clarifications for VCS, four CARs and five clarifications for CCB

Credit Vintages