Katingan Mentaya Peatland Preservation

The Katingan Mentaya 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 project supports 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. Carbon project ratings agencies Sylvera and BeZero both rate the project as high-impact and low risk. Calyx Global and Renoster both give it a medium risk score, reflecting some risk of fire and overcrediting–both typical of conservation projects. Despite those risks, supporting the preservation of existing natural carbon sinks is a critical piece of a diversified carbon offset strategy, and we believe the Katingan Project to be among the best projects driving real impact. That is why Calyx Global notes that Katingan is “among our highest rated REDD / Avoided Deforestation projects.”

Nature-based projects like this one face some risk of reversal. During the life of the project, carbon storage may be affected by flood, fire, or logging. After the project’s end date, land use changes may also reduce carbon storage.