Yacumama Forest Carbon Project

Audit Analysis

The Yacumama Forest Carbon Project is a registered VCS avoidance project in Peru that is over-delivering relative to its pro-rata expectation (128% of expected credits for the elapsed period), with a 33% buffer pool and no reported reversals. However, the verification report identifies numerous serious material findings—including ineligible lands, a boundary dispute, ownership transfer issues, and the VVB's own admission of incomplete conformance assessment—along with the absence of FPIC and a grievance mechanism per the most recent documents. These governance and compliance concerns significantly undermine confidence in the project's integrity despite its positive delivery track record.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠VVB explicitly stated it 'has not appropriately assessed and/or fully described' the project's conformance with VCS Program rules (2025 verification report)
• ⚠Ineligible lands identified within the project area, creating over-crediting risk (2025 verification report)
• ⚠Potential boundary dispute between Puerto Miguel and the Project Area flagged as a forward action request (2025 verification report)
• ⚠FPIC not conducted and no grievance mechanism in place per the most recent verification report (2026), contradicting the 2017 report
• ⚠Baseline deforestation rate revised downward from 10% to 4.22% (2014-2021) and 3.15% (2022-2031), indicating the original baseline was significantly overstated

Credit Vintages