Avoided Deforestation📍 Central Kalimantan, IndonesiaVerified by SCS Global Services

Katingan Mentaya Conservation

One of the highest-regarded avoided deforestation projects in the world, this project protects and restores 149,800 hectares of peatland ecosystems in Indonesia that would likely otherwise have been converted to palm and other plantations.

The Katingan Mentaya Conservation project protects and restores 149,800 hectares of peatland ecosystems in Indonesia. The surrounding land was drained and converted to palm and other plantations, and the project prevents the protected area from the same fate. The are is a vitally important and dense carbon sink. While peatlands represent only 0.3% of the earth’s surface, their destruction contributes between 2-5% of annual anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Katingan is one of the highest-regarded, large-scale avoided deforestation projects in the world.

Developer: PT. Rimba Makmur Utama (PT. RMU)
Methodology: VM0007
Registry: Verra

UN Sustainable Development Goals

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Credit issuances by vintage

2010

12,821,901,000 t

2015

4,894,950,000 t

2017

5,762,377,000 t

2018

5,392,960,000 t

2019

7,296,651,000 t

2020

8,127,374,000 t

Notable buyers

Delta · Shell · EY Global Services Limited

In the news

Carbon financing in action: Restoring peatlands in Indonesia
McKinsey & Company · 6/2/2023
Our take: Another interesting interview with the Katingan project developer. In this interview, we also learn about the challenges and successes that this project has faced, but they also delve more deeply into how the project has benefited the local community and how the project is evolving over time.
Natural Capital - Restoring the Balance Between Biodiversity and Humanity
Nomura Connects · 9/6/2024
Our take: In this interview with the Katingan project developer, we learn about the success that Katingan and other conservation projects have had in Indonesia. We also learn about a lot of the challenges facing forest conservation efforts in Indonesia including struggles to find financing and prevent fires from nearby farms from spreading into projects’ forests.
Verra Issues Its New REDD+ Methodology
Carbon Herald · 11/27/2023
Our take: Although Katingan is a very high quality project, REDD+ projects in general have received a lot of criticism in recent years for being over-credited. In response to this, Verra created a new and improved methodology that all REDD+ projects registered under Verra will need to adhere to. Currently, this methodology only applies to unplanned deforestation projects. For planned deforestation projects such as Katingan, Verra expects that methodology update to be released in 2025. We do not expect that this methodology change will materially change Katingan’s credits or overall quality in any way, but are closely following developments to ensure that our customers are aware if anything changes.
Indonesia poised to lift carbon credit moratorium by year-end, says investor
Carbon Pulse · 5/30/2024
Our take: In 2022, the Indonesian government paused all credit issuances for post-2020 vintages to give the country time to implement updated carbon market legislation. Because of this, Katingan has not issued any credits for several years. This article is good news for the project as it suggests that new vintages of Katingan should be available soon!

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