Afforestation, reforestation and revegetation carbon removal

ARR credits represent one tonne of CO2 removed as trees or other woody vegetation grow. The carbon is stored in wood, roots and soil. Registries such as Verra, Gold Standard and Isometric issue credits after independent verification. Once purchased, the credits are retired in the buyer’s name.

Carbon stored in forests and other vegetation can remain there for decades to centuries, but it can be reversed. Wildfire, disease, pests or land-use change can release it again. Projects therefore hold back part of their credits in a buffer pool. Under Verra, the contribution is set through a project-specific non-permanence risk assessment.

ARR is a carbon removal method because new forest growth removes CO2 from the atmosphere. Avoidance credits work differently: they prevent emissions that might otherwise have occurred. Under the Oxford Offsetting Principles, ARR is classified as removal with biological storage, with permanence as its main limitation.

ARR creates new carbon storage by growing forests or restoring woody vegetation. REDD+ protects carbon already stored in existing forests by preventing deforestation. ARR is removal; REDD+ is avoidance.

That is the additionality test. It asks whether the trees would have grown without the project. Under Verra’s VM0047, projects using the area-based approach are compared with matched control areas at each verification. Only growth above the dynamic baseline can be credited.

Senken’s current indicative range for top-rated projects is €25 to €45 per tonne. This makes ARR one of the cheapest removals available and far cheaper than durable methods. In the first half of 2026, Sylvera reported an average price of US$28.55 for BBB-or-higher ARR credits, compared with US$9.12 for credits rated BB or lower.

ARR relies on photosynthesis rather than expensive capture machinery or large amounts of energy. Most of the cost comes from land, planting, restoration, long-term care and verification. This also means cheap credits can hide weak project design, so screening matters.

Teams measure trees in sample plots and convert the results into tonnes using published equations. Satellite data helps set the baseline by estimating what the land would have done without the project. Credits are issued only after the growth is verified, with leakage and uncertainty deducted first.

ARR counts as carbon removal, but it cannot play every role in a net-zero strategy. Under Version 2.0 of the Corporate Net-Zero Standard, residual emissions from long-lived greenhouse gases must be neutralised with long-lived removals at net zero. ARR stores carbon for decades to centuries, so companies also need durable removal for residual fossil CO2.

Afforestation is recognised as carbon farming under the EU CRCF methodology adopted in July 2026. It is treated as temporary carbon storage, separate from the permanent-removal category. Reforestation and revegetation are not automatically covered by this specific methodology.

The widely cited 2023 criticism concerned REDD+ forest-protection credits, not ARR removal projects. The underlying research assessed whether REDD+ baselines overstated avoided deforestation. ARR is a different project type, but the wider lesson still applies: buyers need to assess quality project by project.

Senken scores every project across 600+ data points in the Sustainability Integrity Index, and fewer than 5% pass. For ARR, we place the most weight on additionality, measurement and reversal risk. Every purchase also comes with audit-ready documentation.

No, not in the EU. From 27 September 2026, Directive (EU) 2024/825 prohibits product claims such as “climate neutral” when they are based on offsetting outside the product’s value chain. Companies may still state that they finance carbon-removal projects, provided the claim is accurate and not misleading.