INTERVIEW: Wildlife Works weighs new Mai Ndombe REDD+ credits issuance after four-year gap

Wildlife Works Carbon is exploring options to issue new carbon credits from its Mai Ndombe and Kasigau REDD+ forestry conservation projects after changes in carbon emissions accounting methodology stalled fresh issuances over the past four years.

The Mai Ndombe forestry conservation project in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which spans 300,000 hectares of tropical rainforest, has not issued new credits since 2022 after Verra inactivated the VM0009 methodology the project used, WWC's CEO and founder Michael Korchinsky told Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, in an interview.

The Kasigau project, a 200,000 hectare forestry conservation project in Kenya, is in a similar predicament. Mai Ndombe and Kasigau need to transition to Verra's VM0048 methodology or look for other registries under which to issue new credits, the CEO said.

"It's been a challenge that we have not been able to issue for four years, but we hope the wait is over, and that this year we will be a year in which we can begin issuances again," Korchinsky said.

Verra's new datasets developed under VM0048 (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) enable developers to register projects using standardized baselines -- which determine the volume of carbon credits a project can generate by comparing actual forest loss against modeled deforestation risk.

But it's not an immediate solution WWC seeks for its African forestry projects, Korchinsky said.

"The lack of a methodology solution in the case of Mai Ndombe or data for use of the methodology in the case of Kasigau is still preventing us from moving ahead with Verra for both projects," Korchinsky said.

When Mai Ndombe was threatened by commercial logging in the early 2000s, a REDD+ conservation project was agreed with authorities to help preserve the rainforests, using carbon credits sales revenues to usher in conservation alongside local communities. At the time it was estimated that more than 100 million tons of CO2 emissions would be reduced over three decades.

However, Rainforest Foundation UK alleged in 2020 that the Mai Ndombe project lacked integrity, was not inclusive enough, and overstated the community and environmental benefits. WWC dismissed the allegations, arguing they were not backed by evidence.

Then in January 2023, the UK's Guardian newspaper alleged that more than 90% of Verra-certified REDD+ projects globally were not impacting deforestation and that the credits were worthless.

In the wake of the allegations, Platts' Nature-Based Southeast Asia price assessment – the global assessment for REDD+ credits at the time – slumped, falling to $8.20/mtCO2e on Feb. 9, 2023 from $10.95/mtCO2e less than a month earlier.

For the Mai Ndombe project specifically, credits with a vintage 2018 that were trading at $14.30/mtCO2e in June 2022 were being offered at around $6/mtCO2e a year later, according to Platts data.

'We like the idea that there is a choice'

WWC wants to issue new credits from its Kasigau project but, just like in DRC, it is still not clear when Verra will transition the projects to VM0048, Korchinsky said.

"So, it's not just about the data not being available," he said. "There is no methodological support for it under VM0048. Whether that becomes a different methodology under Verra or whether it's a module that they add to VM0048, that's not clear to us at this point."

The VM0048 is a framework that is to be used together with other modules for specific activity types, Verra says on its website.

"What's missing are the baselines. We don't have the baseline from Verra for either project [DRC or Kenya]," Korchinsky said.

"So, we can't speculate on the volumes we are going to issue. But historically, those are projects that issue, give or take, 4 million credits [per year]."

The last issuance was in 2022, and the new issuances are planned for vintages starting from 2023, according to the founder.

The Mai Ndombe project could also explore other standards like Equitable Earth to issue, but no final decision has been made, Korchinsky said. Verra is still the default standard that Mai Ndombe and Kasigau want to issue the new credits under, he said.

"If they [Verra] do produce the data, then we would be able to move, but it's not a secret that we have also been working with a group of people to try and see if we can introduce or see if the market is ready for an alternative," Korchinsky said.

"Equitable Earth is attempting to be a global standard for forest carbon projects. And we like that standard, and we like the people there, and we like the idea that there's a choice."

Equitable Earth declined to comment. Equitable Earth uses the M002 Terrestrial Forest Conservation methodology, which is designed to support high-integrity avoided unplanned deforestation and degradation projects, it says on its website.

"We like the idea that the market would have more than one choice for projects like ours because it would prevent situations where one standard basically stops the activity in the market for four years," the WWC founder said.

The stalled credit issuances could pose financial challenges as running the forestry conservation projects is costly, Korchinsky said. New investors planning forestry conservation could face delays because "the economic models are dependent on baselines," Korchinsky said.

"It's not fair to the communities and to everybody that's been involved to have been in limbo for so long without a clear path forward," he added.

Verra did not respond to emailed requests for comment.

What are Mai Ndombe credits worth?

Some Mai Ndombe credits are currently offered at prices ranging from 25 cents/mtCO2e for 2016 vintage and 24 cents/mtCO2e for 2018 vintage on CBL Xpansiv, a secondary exchange for environmental markets.

Earlier this month 20,000 mt of REDD+, 2020 vintage, were being offered at 95 cents/mtCO2e, while 100,000 mt, vintage 2019, were offered at 40 cents/mtCO2e, a broker said.

Some of the project's biggest buyers include Eni Upstream and Shell. Eni Upstream retired more than 5.9 million Mai Ndombe credits between February 2025 and February 2026, Verra registry data shows.

"We have sold or contracted to sell all our inventory, so I'd say buyers still want the high-quality credits from our projects," Korchinsky said.

Some units from Kasigau phase II, Kenya REDD+, 2021 vintage, were being offered at $3.20/mtCO2e, a trader said.

"The prices we get on the primary market have remained strong for our credits. People still buy from us at strong prices, even knowing that there are these credits out there on the secondary market," Korchinsky said.