Sustainable cocoa plantation system (agroforestry) in East Nicaragua

Audit Analysis

A Gold Standard agroforestry cocoa project in Nicaragua with VVB-confirmed additionality and a conservative verified-to-claimed ratio (73% of pro-rata expectation), but significant permanence concerns from 2022 hurricane damage affecting 92 ha and thousands of trees, a 0% leakage deduction, and no stated buffer pool. Multiple material findings and corrective actions indicate data-quality issues that temper confidence in the underlying calculations.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Hurricane Julia and Tropical Storm Bonnie damaged 92 ha of trees in 2022, with 9,289 forest trees, 22,775 cocoa trees, and 12,277 legume trees heavily damaged or lost; replanting only partially initiated
• ⚠No buffer pool percentage stated in any available document for a 30-year A/R crediting period, leaving permanence risk unmitigated
• ⚠0% leakage deduction with only a 'quantified' justification — no specific methodology or threshold described in the extracted record
• ⚠Soil organic matter decreased from 5.72% (2021) to 5.24% (2022), raising questions about the carbon stock trajectory
• ⚠FPIC (Free, Prior and Informed Consent) was not conducted, despite the project involving local cocoa farmers

Credit Vintages

No issuances recorded on the registry.