# How Many Carbon Credits Does a Hectare of Reforestation Earn?

Last updated: 2026-11-01

> With IPCC default growth rates and example deductions, a hectare of tropical reforestation earns about 4 to 12 carbon credits a year in its first 20 years.

Date: November 1, 2026

> [ARR Carbon Guide](https://restorationscope.com/blog/category/carbon): take your ARR project from standard to verification, step by step.

**With IPCC default growth rates, a hectare of tropical reforestation earns about 4 to 12 carbon credits a year in its first 20 years**, or 2 to 5 per acre, in our three examples. One credit is one tonne of CO₂ removed. The trees remove about 7 to 18 tonnes a hectare a year; our example deductions for the baseline, uncertainty, leakage and buffer pool keep about a third from becoming credits. Natural regrowth earns 4 to 8, teak about 12. Faster sites, such as African rainforest by the IPCC's figures, earn more.

This guide shows where those numbers come from, step by step, using the IPCC's default growth rates and Verra's VM0047 rules. Checked November 1, 2026. Your project's own credits come from your own plots and your methodology expert. To try your own numbers, with costs, use the [carbon project calculator](https://restorationscope.com/tools/carbon-project-calculator).

## Credits per hectare, by what grows

| t CO₂ per hectare a year, first 20 years | Rainforest regrowth, Asia | Moist forest regrowth, Americas | Teak, Americas, unharvested |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Trees remove, above and below ground | 7.1 | 11.5 | 17.7 |
| − Baseline: what would grow anyway (assumed 10%) | −0.7 | −1.1 | −1.8 |
| − Uncertainty: VM0047's 10% minimum for forecasts | −0.6 | −1.0 | −1.6 |
| − Leakage: farming pushed elsewhere (assumed 5%) | −0.3 | −0.5 | −0.7 |
| − Buffer pool (assumed 15%; Verra's floor is 12%) | −0.9 | −1.4 | −2.1 |
| **Credits, as forecast** | **4.6** | **7.5** | **11.5** |
| Over 20 years | 92 | 150 | 230 |

All three are tropical: natural regrowth of rainforest in Asia and of moist forest in the Americas, and a teak plantation in the Americas. These are illustrative scenarios, not typical projects. Removals use IPCC 2019 default growth for secondary forest up to 20 years old (Table 4.9) and plantations (Table 4.10), with roots from Table 4.4. Table 4.4 sets root ratios by above-ground biomass (up to 125 t a hectare, and above); we switch at year 20 as a proxy, and for teak use the natural-forest ratio, since it has no planted row for that zone. Baseline, leakage and the 15% buffer are our assumptions: VM0047 sets the first two from each project's own data, and the buffer comes from its risk score. Leakage and the buffer are both shares of what is left after the baseline and uncertainty: our reading of Verra's rule that sizes the buffer on the change in carbon stocks. Gold Standard and Plan Vivo take their buffer from the credits left after leakage. The IPCC gives one teak rate for all ages, so later years may run lower. A plantation that is harvested earns credits only up to its long-term average GHG benefit under Verra ([VCS Standard v4.7](https://verra.org/documents/vcs-standard-v4-7/), §3.2.29), however fast it grows.

The range is wide because growth is. The IPCC's sixth assessment gives 5–10 tCO₂ per hectare a year for reforestation as an average sustained over about a century, with a range of 1–20 ([AR6 WG3, chapter 7](https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg3/chapter/chapter-7/), §7.4.2.2). Cook-Patton and colleagues mapped 13,112 field measurements of natural regrowth and found rates that vary over 100-fold across the globe, with their predicted rates 53% higher than the IPCC defaults in the tropics and 32% higher on average ([Nature, 2020](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2686-x)). Treat the IPCC figures as a cautious start, not a ceiling.

Sources: [IPCC 2019 Refinement, Vol. 4, Ch. 4](https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2019rf/pdf/4_Volume4/19R_V4_Ch04_Forest%20Land.pdf) (Tables 4.4, 4.9, 4.10), [IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Vol. 4, Ch. 4](https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/pdf/4_Volume4/V4_04_Ch4_Forest_Land.pdf) (Table 4.3, carbon fraction), [VM0047 v1.1](https://verra.org/documents/vm0047-afforestation-reforestation-and-revegetation-v1-1/) (§8.7), [AFOLU Non-Permanence Risk Tool v4.2](https://verra.org/documents/afolu-non-permanence-risk-tool-v4-2/) (§2.5.2). Checked November 1, 2026.

## How carbon credits are calculated, step by step

1. **Measure growth.** Sample plots, or a count of every tree, give dry biomass per hectare at each monitoring. The change between two monitorings is growth.
2. **Add roots.** Multiply above-ground biomass by 1 + the root-to-shoot ratio. For young tropical forest the IPCC defaults are mostly 0.2 to 0.45, and up to 0.8 for African rainforest.
3. **Biomass to carbon.** Multiply dry biomass by 0.47, the IPCC default carbon fraction (2006 Guidelines, Table 4.3).
4. **Carbon to CO₂.** Multiply by $\tfrac{44}{12}$, the ratio of the molecular weights. One tonne of dry biomass holds about 1.72 tonnes of CO₂.
5. **Take off the baseline.** What would have grown without the project doesn't count.
6. **Take off uncertainty.** The less precise your measurements, the more comes off.
7. **Take off leakage.** If the project pushes farming or grazing onto forest elsewhere, those emissions come off.
8. **Set aside the buffer.** A share goes to the registry's pooled buffer, which covers losses to fire, pests or land-use change across all projects.

Steps 1 to 4 multiply into one line. With the IPCC's defaults for young moist tropical forest in the Americas, a hectare removes in a year:

**CO₂ a hectare of new forest removes in a year** (young moist tropical forest, the Americas):

CO₂ removed = above-ground biomass growth × (1 + root-to-shoot ratio) × carbon fraction × CO₂ per tonne of carbon

- above-ground biomass growth: 5.2 t dry biomass per hectare a year (IPCC 2006, Table 4.9). The dry weight of trunk, branches and leaves the trees on one hectare add in a year. This is the IPCC default for young moist tropical forest in the Americas.
- root-to-shoot ratio: 0.28 (IPCC 2006, Table 4.4). Roots store carbon too. For every tonne above ground, young tropical forest holds about 0.28 tonnes in its roots, so 1 + 0.28 counts both.
- carbon fraction: 0.47 (IPCC 2006, Table 4.3). The share of dry wood that is carbon: just under half, by the IPCC default.
- CO₂ per tonne of carbon: 44/12. Trees take carbon out of the air as CO₂. A CO₂ molecule weighs 44 to its carbon atom’s 12, so each tonne of carbon stored is 3.67 tonnes of CO₂ removed.

CO₂ removed = 5.2 × (1 + 0.28) × 0.47 × 44/12 = 11.5 t CO₂ per hectare a year (IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Vol. 4, Tables 4.9, 4.4 and 4.3)

[Spreadsheet of this calculation](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Va5xlCH_D50UGlZdDOVEiGzoHT6_JRDpeHfW_ZU7pG4/edit?usp=sharing)

## Why there's no "credits per tree" number

A hectare's credits are the number of trees on it times what each one adds, so a per-tree figure needs both, and both vary several-fold. A thousand young trees on a hectare may add less carbon than a few hundred older ones, and some will die. That is why standards measure per hectare, net of trees that died.

The per-tree figure that circulates most is the US EPA's 0.060 tonnes of CO₂ a year for an urban tree seedling. The EPA itself says that figure "is not appropriate for reforestation projects" ([EPA](https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator-calculations-and-references)). And VM0047's census approach, where every tree is counted, is open only to projects planting no more than 50 planting units per hectare.

## The VM0047 steps

[VM0047](https://restorationscope.com/blog/vm0047-arr-field-data) is Verra's methodology for afforestation, reforestation and revegetation. It counts removals two ways.

| | Area-based | Census-based |
| --- | --- | --- |
| How trees are measured | Sample plots, scaled up to the project area | Every planted tree counted, a sample measured |
| Baseline | A performance benchmark from satellite control plots outside the project, updated at each verification or every five years (Appendix 1) | Pre-project land use continues; existing trees don't count |
| Leakage | Calculated with module VMD0054; must not be assumed de minimis (§4.2) | Set to zero (§8.4) |
| Planting density | Any | At most 50 planting units per hectare (§4.3) |

At each verification, credits follow Equation 32: removals, cut by the performance benchmark, then by the uncertainty deduction, minus project emissions and leakage (§8.6.1). Before any monitoring, a forecast must deduct at least 10% for uncertainty (§8.7). After monitoring, the deduction is the half-width of the 90% confidence interval minus 10 points, so a precise inventory loses nothing (§8.5.1, Equation 28), and a project whose interval's half-width is more than its estimate earns nothing that period (§8.5). The buffer comes from the AFOLU Non-Permanence Risk Tool (v4.2 for VCS version 4 projects), with a floor of 12% (§2.5.2).

## How other standards deduct

| Standard | Buffer | Uncertainty | Forward credits |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Verra VM0047](https://verra.org/documents/vm0047-afforestation-reforestation-and-revegetation-v1-1/) | By risk score, at least 12% | Half-width of the 90% confidence interval above 10 points; at least 10% in forecasts | No |
| [Gold Standard](https://globalgoals.goldstandard.org/standards/501_V3.2_PR_GHG-Emissions-Reductions-Sequestration.pdf) | 20% of the credits issued, after leakage (§11.1.1) | Plots within ±20% at 90% confidence, or the excess comes off ([A/R methodology v2.1](https://globalgoals.goldstandard.org/standards/403_V2.1_LUF_AR-Methodology-GHGs-emission-reduction-and-Sequestration-Methodology.pdf), §3.11.5) | Yes, PERs up to 5 years ahead |
| [Plan Vivo](https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets.planvivo.org/documents/PV-Climate-Documents/PV-Climate_Project-Requirements_V5.7.pdf) | 20% of the credits issued (§3.11.3) | Set by the approved methodology | Yes, up to 90% of the expected benefit |
| [Isometric](https://registry.isometric.com/protocol/reforestation/1.2) | 20%, or by risk with a 10% floor | Several approaches, one of them a conservative percentile of a simulated distribution ([Standard v2.2](https://registry.isometric.com/standard/2.2), §3.7.1.4) | No |
| [Equitable Earth](https://docs.eq-earth.com/equitable-earth-standard-v1.3.1.pdf) | 20% | 15th percentile of net removals ([M001 v1.3](https://docs.eq-earth.com/m001-methodology-for-terrestrial-forest-restoration-v1.3.pdf), §9.3.2, Equation E.52) | No |

Gold Standard's forward credits are planned emission reductions (PERs), not yet verified credits, issued up to 5 years ahead once a verifier confirms planting, except for smallholder projects using default values (§11.2); 20% of them go to the buffer. Plan Vivo allows them under [PM001](https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets.planvivo.org/documents/PV-Climate-Methodologies-Modules-and-Tools/PM001_PV-Climate-Methodology_V1.0.pdf) (§4.2), not [PM002](https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets.planvivo.org/documents/PV-Climate-Methodologies-Modules-and-Tools/PM002_PV-Climate-Methodology_V1.0.pdf) (§4.2), with 20% of them to a future-risk buffer.

Gold Standard closed new submissions under its older methodologies on June 30, 2026, and is replacing its A/R methodology with STARR, so check which methodology takes new projects. For each standard's field rules, see [carbon standards for nature projects](https://restorationscope.com/blog/carbon-standards-for-nature-projects) and [ARR carbon standards](https://restorationscope.com/blog/arr-carbon-standards).

## When the first credits arrive

Young trees grow slowly, and credits under Verra, Isometric and Equitable Earth are issued only after a verifier checks measured growth. Under Verra, a census-based ARR project, which uses a project method, completes validation within eight years of its start date; an area-based project uses a performance method, so it starts its pipeline listing within those eight years and may complete validation as late as its first verification ([VCS Standard v4.7](https://verra.org/documents/vcs-standard-v4-7/), §§3.8.3 and 3.8.7; version 5 takes effect for most rules on 1 July 2027, and [Verra's transition guidance](https://verra.org/programs/verified-carbon-standard/vcs-program-version-5-resources/) says which version a project follows). Isometric lets the first reporting period run longer than five years "to allow for tree growth" (§5.3). Gold Standard can issue planned emission reductions, forward units that are not yet verified credits, once a verifier confirms the trees are planted, except to smallholder projects that use default values, and Plan Vivo forward credits against up to 90% of the expected benefit under PM001, which is how some projects fund planting.

That gap between spending and earning is why size matters. What it costs to reach the first credit, and the area at which those costs pay back, is in [what a reforestation carbon project costs](https://restorationscope.com/blog/carbon-project-costs).

## Where Restoration Scope fits

Every number above rests on field records: plots, trees, measurements and the dates they were taken. Restoration Scope keeps those records, offline in the field with GPS and photos, and exports them for your verifier. We don't calculate, verify or sell credits; a methodology expert and your VVB do. See [Restoration Scope for carbon projects](https://restorationscope.com/solutions/carbon).

**Disclosure:** Restoration Scope makes field and monitoring software for carbon projects. We are not a validation or verification body, and we don't issue or sell credits.

## Questions about carbon credits per hectare

### How many carbon credits does one tree earn?

There is no reliable per-tree number. Standards credit removals per hectare from sample plots, or by counting and measuring trees. The US EPA's often-quoted 0.060 tCO₂ per tree per year is for urban trees, and the EPA says it is not appropriate for reforestation projects. VM0047's census approach is open only to projects that plant no more than 50 planting units per hectare.

### How many carbon credits per acre?

Divide the per-hectare figures by 2.47. With IPCC default growth rates for the young tropical forests and plantation in this guide and our example deductions, that is about 2 to 5 credits per acre a year in the first 20 years.

### How are carbon credits calculated for trees?

Measure the trees' dry biomass growth per hectare, add roots, multiply by the carbon fraction (0.47) and by 44/12 to get tonnes of CO₂. Then take off the baseline, uncertainty, leakage and the project's own emissions, and set aside the buffer. What remains can be issued as credits, one per tonne of CO₂, once a verifier and the registry approve it.

### How long until a reforestation project earns its first credits?

Most standards issue credits only after a verifier checks measured growth, so the first issuance waits for the trees to grow and for validation. Under Verra's VCS Standard v4.7, a census-based ARR project completes validation within eight years of its start date; an area-based project starts its pipeline listing within those eight years and may complete validation as late as its first verification. Gold Standard can issue forward units, planned emission reductions that are not yet verified credits, once a verifier confirms the trees are planted, though not to smallholder projects that use default values, and Plan Vivo issues forward credits against up to 90% of the expected benefit under PM001, but not PM002.

### Do soil carbon and dead wood count?

Only if the methodology includes those pools and you measure them. The figures here count trees above and below ground only.