# Carbon Standards for Reforestation (ARR) Projects Compared

> Compare reforestation carbon standards (Verra VM0047, Gold Standard, Plan Vivo, ACR, Climate Action Reserve, Isometric, BioCarbon, Cercarbono and Equitable Earth) by eligibility, measurement, forward credits and ICVCM status.

Date: October 18, 2026

Afforestation, reforestation and revegetation (ARR) projects earn credits for carbon that new trees take up. Every major standard certifies them, and the differences show up in the details: what land qualifies, how removals are measured, whether you can sell credits before the trees grow, and how long you keep monitoring.

This guide compares ARR methodologies across nine standards. It compares published rules, not outcomes, and is not legal or investment advice. First-party documents checked October 18, 2026. For the wider field, see [carbon standards for nature projects compared](https://restorationscope.com/blog/carbon-standards-for-nature-projects).

## Compare reforestation methodologies

| Standard | Methodology | Eligible land | How removals are measured | Forward credits | ICVCM label |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Verra VCS](#verra) | VM0047 v1.1 | Non-forest land; area-based also takes forest not managed for wood products in the past 10 years. Census-based: up to 50 planting units per hectare on land that stays in use | Biomass plots against satellite control plots, or a census of every planted tree | No | Approved |
| [Gold Standard](#gold-standard) | A/R v2.1 | Not forest in the past 10 years, with reviewed exceptions; no wetlands | Growth models checked by inventory plots | Up to 5 years ahead | Under assessment |
| [Plan Vivo](#plan-vivo) | PM001; PM002 for smallholder agroforestry | No deforestation or clearing in the past 10 years, with set exceptions | Field data or local models; PM002 uses satellite models calibrated by plots | PM001 only, up to 90% | Not listed |
| [ACR](#acr) | A/R of Degraded Lands v1.2 | Land shown to be degraded or degrading | Stratified plots at ±10% precision | No | Approved |
| [Climate Action Reserve](#car) | US Forest Protocol; Climate Forward for forecasts | US land with little canopy for 10 years, or after a disturbance | Inventory plots grown forward with approved models | Climate Forward only | Not listed (Mexico reforestation under assessment) |
| [Isometric](#isometric) | Reforestation v1.2; Agroforestry v1.1 | Degraded or historically forested land, no deforestation in 10 years | Field plots, against a satellite control-pixel baseline | No | Approved (Reforestation 1.1, Agroforestry 1.0) |
| [BioCarbon Standard](#biocarbon) | BCR0001 v5.0 | Not forest or natural vegetation in the past 5 years; no wetlands | Stratified plots at ±10% precision | No | Under assessment |
| [Cercarbono](#cercarbono) | CM-LU-002 v3.1 | No stable forest in the past 10 years; at least 10% of the area managed for biodiversity, or equivalent conservation actions | Field inventory, with remote sensing checked in the field | No | Under assessment |
| [Equitable Earth](#equitable-earth) | M001 v1.3 | Degraded land returning to forest or woodland, checked over 10 years; afforestation excluded | Equitable Earth's satellite biomass maps, pixel by pixel; optional LiDAR plots to calibrate them | No | Under assessment |

Status from the [ICVCM assessment page](https://icvcm.org/assessment-status/). ICVCM approves versions, not names, so check the version you would use.

## What each standard asks you to monitor

| Standard | Verification at least | Crediting period | Commitment | Buffer |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Verra VM0047 | Most parameters every 5 years | 20–100 years | At least 40 years | Pooled, sized by Verra's risk tool |
| Gold Standard | Every 5 years, with an inventory before each | 30–50 years | The crediting period | 20% |
| Plan Vivo | Every 5 years, with annual reports | 10–50 years | Risk assessed over at least 50 years | 20% |
| ACR | Every 5 years with a site visit; the first can wait up to 12 years | 40 years | At least 40 years | Pooled, sized by ACR's risk tool |
| Climate Action Reserve, US | Annual reports; a site visit at least every 6 reporting periods, or 12 for small projects, with conditions | Set by the protocol | 100 years after each issuance | Pooled, by risk rating |
| Isometric | Reporting periods of 1–5 years | Set by the protocol | Reforestation: 40–100 years of monitoring after crediting. Agroforestry: 40–120 years in total | 20%, or set by a risk model |
| BioCarbon | Every 5 years | 40 years, or 20 renewed once | 20 years of reversal monitoring for projects starting by 2026, then 40 | 10–30% by risk, plus 10% |
| Cercarbono | Every 3 years; the first within 5 | 20 years, renewable | At least 40 years | Buffer tool plus insurance or equivalent |
| Equitable Earth | Every 1–5 years, with annual reports | 40 years, renewable in 20-year blocks up to 100 | Satellite loss monitoring for 100 years after the project ends | 20% |

Sources: [VM0047 v1.1](https://verra.org/documents/vm0047-afforestation-reforestation-and-revegetation-v1-1/), [Gold Standard land-use requirements](https://globalgoals.goldstandard.org/standards/203_V1.2_AR_LUF-Activity-Requirements.pdf), [Plan Vivo requirements v5.7](https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets.planvivo.org/documents/PV-Climate-Documents/PV-Climate_Project-Requirements_V5.7.pdf), [ACR A/R methodology](https://acrcarbon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/ACR-Afforestation-Reforestation-of-Degraded-Land-v1.2-1.pdf), [US Forest Protocol](https://climateactionreserve.org/how/protocols/ncs/forest/), [Isometric Reforestation](https://registry.isometric.com/protocol/reforestation/1.2), [BCR0001](https://biocarbonstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/BCR0001_Methodological-document-ARR.pdf), [Cercarbono protocol](https://cercarbono.com/wp-content/uploads/2026.04.30-Cercarbonos-Protocol-V-4.5.2.pdf).

## Where each standard fits

### Verra VCS

**Good fit:** Most ARR projects, in any country, selling to the largest buyer market. VM0047 has two approaches: area-based, which compares project plots with matched satellite control plots, and census-based, which counts every tree planted on farms and other land that stays in use. See [what VM0047 asks you to record](https://restorationscope.com/blog/vm0047-arr-field-data).

**Plan for:** No credits issued before the first verification, though buyers can still pre-finance. Under VCS version 5, which takes effect in stages from 2027, ARR projects request registration within 8 years of the crediting start, and each verification needs a geolocation file of the project and control areas. If you plan to sell to airlines: in a REDD+ country, a VM0047 project expected to issue more than 7,000 credits a year can't get Verra's CORSIA label unless it is nested in a jurisdictional program ([Verra's CORSIA rules](https://verra.org/programs/verified-carbon-standard/vcs-under-corsia/); [every standard compared](https://restorationscope.com/blog/carbon-standards-for-nature-projects#corsia)).

### Gold Standard

**Good fit:** Projects that need early income. Forward credits for up to five years of removals on planted area the verifier has confirmed can fund planting; 20% of them go to the buffer. Agroforestry and silvopasture qualify, and smallholders can map their land with a GPS point and a hand-drawn or digital map.

**Plan for:** Change. Gold Standard closed new submissions under its older methodologies on June 30, 2026, and is replacing its A/R methodology with STARR, a new afforestation, reforestation and revegetation methodology with a satellite baseline and a smallholder track. Check which methodology takes new projects before you start.

### Plan Vivo

**Good fit:** Community and smallholder planting. PM002, for smallholder agroforestry plots of 0.1 to 10 hectares, estimates biomass with satellite models calibrated by at least 30 plots per ecoregion at the start and every five years. At least 60% of credit-sale income, after host-country charges, must benefit participants and local stakeholders over the crediting period.

**Plan for:** No ICVCM label for its methodologies yet. Compare it with the alternatives in [Plan Vivo vs Gold Standard vs Verra](https://restorationscope.com/blog/plan-vivo-vs-gold-standard-vs-verra).

### ACR

**Good fit:** Reforestation of land you can show is degraded, with the ICVCM label.

**Plan for:** A 40-year crediting period and term. The first verification can wait up to 12 years while trees establish. ACR also asks you to keep unplanted regeneration areas in each stratum and check them every 10 years, to test whether the land would have regrown on its own.

### Climate Action Reserve

**Good fit:** US reforestation after long-term loss of cover or a disturbance such as wildfire. Its sister program [Climate Forward](https://climateforward.org/program/methodologies/) issues forecasted units up front from default growth curves, after a one-time check that at least 70% of plots are stocked.

**Plan for:** 100 years of monitoring after each issuance under the US Forest Protocol, and annual monitoring reports.

### Isometric

**Good fit:** Buyers who want a satellite control baseline and a public registry with the project data. Its agroforestry protocol covers land where at least half the area, or 500 hectares, produces non-timber products.

**Plan for:** Field plots throughout crediting, with diameter and species measured at least every five years, and monitoring for 40 to 100 years after crediting ends under the reforestation protocol.

### BioCarbon Standard

**Good fit:** Latin American projects that want explicit field rules. BCR0001 lists the records it expects: an ID for every lot, GPS points for plots and lots, planted polygons by stratum, species and date, survival three months after planting and later, and a log of every disturbance.

**Plan for:** A buffer of 10% to 30% by risk, plus a general 10%.

### Cercarbono

**Good fit:** Projects in Colombia and Chile, where Cercarbono credits are recognized in compliance schemes, and projects that want to show biodiversity management: at least 10% of the area must be managed for it, or the project takes equivalent conservation actions.

**Plan for:** More frequent verification than most, at least every three years.

### Equitable Earth

**Good fit:** Restoring degraded land, or helping degraded forest regrow through assisted natural regeneration, without running your own carbon inventory: Equitable Earth calculates credits from satellite biomass maps, pixel by pixel.

**Plan for:** No forward credits, and M001 is still under ICVCM assessment. Afforestation isn't eligible. Field plots only calibrate the maps, must be LiDAR scans, and the calibration protocol has been paused since July 2026.

Sources: [M001 v1.3](https://docs.eq-earth.com/m001-methodology-for-terrestrial-forest-restoration-v1.3.pdf), [field calibration protocol](https://docs.eq-earth.com/protocol-field-calibration-v1.2.pdf), [Equitable Earth Standard v1.3.1](https://docs.eq-earth.com/equitable-earth-standard-v1.3.1.pdf), [Programme Manual v1.3.1](https://docs.eq-earth.com/programme-manual-v1.3.1.pdf).

## What your field team has to keep

Whichever standard you choose, the field record looks much the same:

- **Land history.** Imagery or other evidence that the land had no forest for the lookback period, and legal title or rights.
- **Boundaries and strata.** GIS polygons for the project area and each stratum or planting unit, and, once VCS version 5 applies, a geolocation file at each verification.
- **Planting.** What was planted, where and when, by species and cohort, against the planting plan.
- **Plots or trees.** A location you can find again for every sample plot, or for every tree under VM0047's census approach, with the measurements the methodology asks for.
- **Survival and disturbance.** Mortality checks, replanting, fire, pests and grazing, with dates and locations. See [how to track tree planting survival](https://restorationscope.com/blog/track-tree-planting-survival).
- **Procedures.** Field SOPs, QA checks and the original data, kept for the life of the project.

Restoration Scope keeps planting, plots, trees, survival checks and photos connected on one map, with offline capture for field teams. It doesn't calculate credits or replace your methodology expert. See [Restoration Scope for carbon projects](https://restorationscope.com/solutions/carbon).

**From planting to plots.**

A property on the map with its ready-to-plant checklist: steps done and seedlings still to allocate. Field teams open a monitoring plot on their phones: the plot circle with each measured tree inside it, above the plot record. Demo project: names and numbers are made up.

![Demo property P1023 on the map with its ready-to-plant checklist: four steps done, seedlings still to allocate](https://restorationscope.com/images/landing/screenshots/demo-ready-to-plant.png)

![Demo monitoring plot MP0009 on a phone: the plot circle on the satellite map with five tree points inside it, above the plot record with trees monitored and species counts](https://restorationscope.com/images/landing/mobile-geospatial/demo-plot-point.png)

More guides: [carbon standards for nature projects compared](https://restorationscope.com/blog/carbon-standards-for-nature-projects), [VM0047 field data](https://restorationscope.com/blog/vm0047-arr-field-data), [software for ARR carbon projects](https://restorationscope.com/blog/arr-carbon-monitoring-software), [REDD+ standards](https://restorationscope.com/blog/redd-plus-carbon-standards), [improved forest management standards](https://restorationscope.com/blog/ifm-carbon-standards) and [blue carbon standards](https://restorationscope.com/blog/blue-carbon-standards).

> **Disclosure:** Restoration Scope makes field and monitoring software for carbon project developers. We are not a standard, a registry or a verifier, and we don't issue credits.

## Questions reforestation developers ask

### Which reforestation methodologies carry the ICVCM label?

Verra VM0047, ACR's Afforestation and Reforestation of Degraded Lands, and Isometric's Reforestation (version 1.1) and Agroforestry (version 1.0) protocols. Gold Standard's A/R methodology, BioCarbon, Cercarbono and the Climate Action Reserve's Mexico reforestation activity are still being assessed.

### Can we earn credits before the trees grow?

Under some standards. Gold Standard issues forward credits for up to five years of expected removals, though not to smallholder projects that use default values. Plan Vivo issues forward credits under PM001, but not PM002. Climate Forward issues forecasted units for US reforestation. Verra, ACR, Isometric, BioCarbon and Cercarbono credit only verified removals.

### How long must land be without forest before planting?

Most standards look back about 10 years, but they test different things. Verra VM0047 takes non-forest land, and its area-based approach also takes forest not managed for wood products in the past 10 years; its census-based approach covers sparse planting on land that stays in use. Gold Standard looks for no forest, and Plan Vivo for no clearing, in that time, each with reviewed exceptions. BioCarbon looks back 5 years, and ACR asks you to show the land is degraded.

### How long do we have to monitor?

Commitments run from about 40 years to more than 100. Verra and ACR require at least 40 years. Isometric's reforestation protocol adds 40 to 100 years of monitoring after crediting ends, and its agroforestry protocol sets a total commitment of 40 to 120 years. The Climate Action Reserve monitors for 100 years after each issuance.

### Do we need a GPS point for every tree?

Only for Verra VM0047's census-based approach, where every planted tree needs a GPS point or a durable tag. Most other methodologies measure sample plots, which each need a location you can find again. See [what VM0047 asks you to record](https://restorationscope.com/blog/vm0047-arr-field-data).

### Does monitoring software calculate reforestation credits?

Not ours. Standards and verifiers confirm credits. Software keeps the field record behind them: planting, plots, trees, survival and photos. See [Restoration Scope for carbon projects](https://restorationscope.com/solutions/carbon).