Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve — Contested REDD+ Peat-Swamp Project (Indonesia)

Rimba Raya is a Verra-registered REDD+ project protecting tropical peat-swamp forest adjoining Tanjung Puting National Park, Central Kalimantan, promoted as an orangutan conservation project. It is reported as a 64,000 ha reserve; the developer states a verified Carbon Accounting Area of 47,237 ha through 2019.
S&P Global data cited in reporting show 33.63 million credits issued from June 2013 to April 2024, about 6.84% of all nature-based avoidance credits issued by Verra.
In 2023 Indonesia's environment ministry revoked the concession holder's forestry licence (MOEF Decree 1028/2023), citing an unapproved permit transfer, trading beyond the permit area and unpaid fees; the company disputes this and challenged the decree in the Jakarta State Administrative Court. In May 2024 Verra suspended the registry account of the developer. Carbon Pulse reported a mismatch between the licence and carbon accounting area sizes not addressed in a verification report, and the developer warned credit issuance could more than halve under Verra's new avoided-deforestation methodology.
The case is included as a cautionary example: independent outcome evidence on carbon and biodiversity is limited, the status of the legal dispute was not confirmed, and some claims come from the developer.

Read the full analysis: https://www.spglobal.com/commodity-insights/en/news-research/latest-news/energy-transition/052124-verra-suspends-registry-account-of-rimba-raya-projects-proponent