WILDLIFE WORKS REDD+ PROJECTS
Invest in Community-Led Forest Conservation
CLIMATE FINANCE FOR FOREST CONSERVATION
Mai Ndombe REDD+ Project, D.R.C
Covering nearly 300,000 hectares of tropical rainforest and one of the most important wetlands in Africa, the Mai Ndombe REDD+ project partners with over 50,000 local community members to stop deforestation and protect endangered species by co-creating new economic opportunities.
Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project, Kenya
A critical wildlife corridor between Tsavo East and West National Parks, this project protects over 200,000 hectares of wildlife habitat by partnering with over 100,000 community members to make advancements in health, education, clean water, economic opportunities, and direct job creation.
Horizon Projects: Amazon Ecoregion Colombia
We are partnering closely with Indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities to develop three REDD+ projects, which will conserve biodiversity across multiple regions by improving the well-being of thousands of families.
WHERE WE WORK
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REDUCING EMISSIONS FROM DEFORESTATION AND FOREST DEGRADATION
REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) is a program established by the United Nations to incentivize activities that lower emissions caused by deforestation and forest degradation. Forests play a vital role in stopping climate change due to the substantial amounts of carbon they release when destroyed or degraded. By curbing deforestation and forest degradation, we can reduce these emissions and maintain healthy ecosystems.
In the early 2000s, it became evident to global economists that without economic alternatives to deforestation, developing countries in the Global South would exhaust their natural resources in their efforts to match the economic progress of the Global North. To address this, the United Nations devised the REDD+ framework, which aims to create a “win-win” scenario where the world’s forests and biodiversity are preserved, and developing nations receive financial compensation.
At Wildlife Works, we have embraced the REDD+ approach to compensate forest communities for their essential role in conserving our planet’s forests. Before REDD+, these communities received little to no remuneration for their efforts in managing the world’s ecosystems, despite the immense benefits these forests provide to the global economy through ecosystem services.
Compensating forest communities for their indispensable work is a matter of environmental justice.
Our commitment to a community-centered methodology will continue to be our guiding principle as we pursue additional market opportunities to safeguard the world's precious biodiversity.
REDD+ BEST PRACTICES
Wildlife Works has co-created a set of best practices for implementing REDD+ projects, in collaboration with the Nature Conservancy, a group of best-in-class project practitioners and members of civil society.
View the full guidance framework here, or read the seven key recommendations distilled from the guidance framework to ensure equitable REDD+ projects distilled from this framework.
REDD+ FAQ
REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) is a framework that generates climate benefits by protecting existing forests that are at risk of deforestation or degradation. In addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, many REDD+ projects support biodiversity conservation, strengthen community governance, and invest carbon finance into locally determined development priorities.
Why it matters
Protecting existing forests is one of the fastest and most cost-effective climate mitigation strategies available today. Conserving mature forests also protects biodiversity, water resources, and livelihoods while avoiding emissions that would otherwise occur if forests were cleared.
Key takeaway
High-quality REDD+ projects protect forests that are genuinely at risk while supporting durable conservation outcomes.At Wildlife Works, we have implemented REDD+ in a way to pay forest communities for their essential service of protecting our planet’s forests. Until REDD+, forest communities received little to no compensation for stewarding our world’s ecosystems, even though these forests provide a priceless amount of benefits to the global economy through ecosystem services. Paying forest communities for their critical work is a form of environmental justice.
Additionality means a project's climate benefits would not have occurred without the project itself. In other words, the emissions reductions or removals must result from activities that would not have happened under business-as-usual conditions.
Why it matters
Additionality is a fundamental requirement for carbon credit credibility. If a forest would have remained protected without the project, then the project has not generated additional climate benefits.
Key takeaway
Additionality helps ensure carbon credits represent real climate impact.Leakage is the increase of greenhouse gas emissions outside of the boundaries of projects, that can be attributed back to the project. It occurs when activities that cause deforestation or greenhouse gas emissions shift from one location to another instead of being reduced overall. The classic example of leakage is stopping a logging company from destroying one forest, only for it to move its activities down the road to another forest.
Two types of leakage are broadly recognized: activity-shifting and market leakage. Activity-shifting leakage is measured at the local level and occurs when the agent(s) of deforestation and/or degradation move to an area outside of the project boundary, on account of the REDD+ Project, and continue deforestation and/or degradation activities there. Market leakage is measured at the national scale and occurs when the REDD+ project significantly reduces the production of a commodity, which through the laws of supply and demand, results in an increased level of production somewhere else in the country to replace the lost supply.
Why it matters
High-quality projects assess, monitor, and account for leakage to ensure that protecting one forest does not simply transfer deforestation elsewhere.
Key takeaway
Credible projects address leakage so climate benefits extend beyond the project boundary.High-quality REDD+ projects do more than generate verified carbon credits. They build the conditions needed to sustain conservation over time. Buyers should evaluate transparent carbon accounting, independent verification, strong community governance, ongoing FPIC, biodiversity protection, operational readiness, and stable conservation finance. Together, these characteristics reduce reversal risk and strengthen the durability of long-term climate outcomes.
Key takeaway: The strongest REDD+ projects combine rigorous carbon accounting with resilient ecological and community systems.
See our Durability Framework to evaluate high-quality projects.A baseline estimates the greenhouse gas emissions that would likely occur if the project did not exist. Carbon credits are generated by comparing actual emissions to this projected scenario.
Why it matters
Baselines determine how many emissions a project avoids, making them one of the most important components of carbon accounting. High-quality baselines should be scientifically robust, independently verified, and accurately reflect real deforestation pressures.
Key takeaway
Credible baselines strengthen both environmental integrity and long-term conservation finance.
Learn about how Wildlife Works approaches baseline setting that directs finance to where the threat is highest: BAAR methodology.Baselines estimate the emissions that would likely occur without the project and determine the volume of avoided emissions that can be credited. High-quality projects use transparent, scientifically robust, and independently verified baseline methodologies that reflect real deforestation threats.
Key takeaway: Credible baselines strengthen both environmental integrity and durable conservation outcomes.
Learn about how Wildlife Works approaches baseline setting that directs finance to where the threat is highest: BAAR methodology.
Permanence refers to the expectation that emissions reductions or carbon removals remain stored over a defined period of time and are not reversed.
Why it matters
Because forests are living ecosystems, carbon programs use safeguards such as “buffer pool” instead of being sold, and insurance mechanisms to manage reversal risk. Buffer credits can be canceled from the pool if a “reversal” takes place, helping to ensure the integrity of previously issued credits. Increasingly, buyers also evaluate whether projects have the governance, biodiversity, operational capacity, and community stewardship needed to reduce reversal risk before it occurs.
Key takeaway
Permanence measures carbon storage, while durability evaluates the conditions that make long-term climate outcomes more likely.
See our Durability Framework to understand how nature-based projects deliver on permanence.
A reversal occurs when a forest carbon project emits more greenhouse gases than it reduces or removes during a monitoring period, resulting in a loss of previously credited climate benefits.
Why it matters
Reversals can result from wildfire, illegal logging, disease, extreme weather, or changes in land use. High-quality projects reduce reversal risk through active management, community governance, biodiversity conservation, and financial resilience.
Key takeaway
Durable projects focus on preventing reversals, not just responding to them.High-quality REDD+ projects combine robust carbon accounting with resilient conservation systems. Buffer pools and insurance mechanisms are important safeguards, but durable projects also invest in community governance, biodiversity protection, active field operations, and long-term financing that help prevent reversals before they occur.
Key takeaway: The most durable projects reduce reversal risk through resilient conservation systems, not accounting safeguards alone.
See our Durability Framework to understand how high-quality projects are designed to prevent reversals and mitigate their damage if and when they occur.As defined by the United Nations, Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) is a specific right that pertains to Indigenous peoples and is recognized in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
FPIC enables Indigenous Peoples and local communities to effectively participate in decisions affecting their lands, rights, and livelihoods. In high-quality forest carbon projects, FPIC is an ongoing process, not a one-time consultation. Strong FPIC builds trust, strengthens governance, reduces conflict, and helps reduce reversal risk through long-term community stewardship.
Key takeaway: Strong FPIC reduces reversal risk by creating the social conditions that make conservation outcomes more durable.
See Wildlife Works' robust FPIC Framework.Wildlife Works has implemented REDD+ to pay forest communities for their essential service of protecting our planet’s forests.
We authored the first methodology for avoided ecosystem conversion that allowed Kasigau Corridor REDD+ to be the first verified REDD+ project in the VCM and charted a path for other developers to increase the use of this mechanism to protect forests. We continue to develop new technologies for REDD+ monitoring, reporting and verification. We work closely with forest communities to co-create project initiatives. Learn more about our process here.
Land tenure plays a critical role in the success of REDD+ projects.
Clear property rights to land (and carbon) are a prerequisite for successful REDD+ projects because land tenure rules define who may access and use the land in and around project areas. Clarity of land ownership also facilitates the creation of revenue-sharing agreements that benefit local communities. Where carbon rights are tied directly to land tenure, landholders can be compensated in direct proportion to the amount of greenhouse gases sequestered on their property.
For these reasons, when REDD+ project developers explore potential project sites it can be a catalyst for the clarification and participatory mapping of property rights and boundaries.
Our Free and Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) process is consistent with the Cancun safeguards for REDD+ projects defined by the UNFCCC, which "constitute general principles that not only help ensure that REDD+ policies and measures do not cause harm to people and the environment, but also that they have positive effects and enhance social and environmental benefits."
Wildlife Works considers FPIC to be a continuous process, and it is critical to each phase of our projects. Some key features of our FPIC framework include:
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We conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the risks to, and potential (negative) impacts on, various stakeholders and proposed mitigation plans.
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We provide communities with complete information on the purpose, nature, scale and duration of the project activities
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This includes information on the planned stakeholder engagement process (e.g., times and venues of public consultation meetings), grievance-registering and management procedures, and opportunities and means by which they can participate.
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We conduct thorough FPIC during the feasibility phase, before any contracts are signed to establish the project. Our FPIC process includes conducting extensive community outreach and sensitization to community members, in a user-friendly and culturally fitting manner, free of manipulation, interference, coercion and intimidation. If the community partners agree to start the project, FPIC continues throughout the entire life cycle of the project.
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We implement continuous and meaningful consultation with all project stakeholders, including marginalized groups within the local community.
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We use an effective and culturally appropriate procedure for which people can provide feedback and complaints.
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We provide communities with timely disclosure of appropriate information.
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Community governance is a cornerstone of successful REDD+ projects. Wildlife Works puts local communities at the helm decision-making processes to achieve better outcomes for both the environment and the people. Our approach upholds local ownership and takes a supporting role to community leadership in forest conservation and climate resilience efforts. Read about the innovative governance structure of the Locational Carbon Committees at the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project.
Jurisdictional REDD+ ensures that REDD+ initiatives are integrated across different governance levels, promoting coherence and scalability. Nesting projects into jurisdictional programs can effectively channel finance to the forest areas that are most in danger within a jurisdiction. This facilitates economically efficient protection of standing forests, and pays communities that achieve conservation in the most difficult circumstances. Nested baselines are also well-suited to scaling the REDD+ market, as they create consistency in baseline accounting across a jurisdiction.
Finally, using nested baselines also makes it possible to align REDD+ activities with greenhouse gas inventory data and the host country’s Paris Agreement climate goals.
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Our REDD+ Projects
When implemented to the highest standards, REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) projects center Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities’ (IPLCs’) efforts to preserve their forests by investing in their economic development. Sustainably safeguarding carbon-rich landscapes requires conservation to take a rights-based approach.
High integrity REDD+ projects can also support host countries in realizing their climate goals by creating positive social and biodiversity impacts. that. The benefit of REDD+ projects must be felt on the ground by the people who live in the forests.