The Paraguay Forest Conservation Project - Reduction of GHG emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in the Chaco-Pantanal ecosystem

Audit Analysis

The Paraguay Forest Conservation Project has a VVB-verified additionality assessment and a 10% buffer pool, but is severely undermined by an extensive record of non-conformity reports (16+ NCRs across multiple verification cycles), fundamental calculation errors in carbon stock estimation, and major contradictions in key figures including leakage deduction (0.4% vs 40%) and verified ERR (11,706 vs 63,669 tCO2e). The project-specific baseline and the volume of corrective actions required raise significant concerns about the robustness of the credit claims.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠16+ Non-Conformity Reports (NCRs) across 2012 and 2013 verification cycles, including errors in allometric equations, root-to-shoot ratios, uncertainty calculations, and missing methodology parameters
• ⚠Leakage deduction contradicts between documents: 0.4% in the 2013 verification report vs 40% in the 2021 monitoring report — a 100-fold discrepancy that fundamentally changes the net credit value
• ⚠Verified ERR of 11,706 tCO2e in the 2016 verification report vs 63,669 tCO2e in the 2021 monitoring report for overlapping periods, suggesting a 3–5× inconsistency in annual emission reduction rates
• ⚠Carbon inventory had to be re-executed in 2013 to include additional carbon pools (non-tree woody biomass, dead wood, litter), and deforestation proxy areas were doubled from six to twelve during revision
• ⚠28+ corrective actions required by the VVB, including recalculation of carbon stocks, correction of allometric equations, and revision of baseline and project scenario calculations

Credit Vintages