Chestnut Sustainable Restoration Project

Inside the project

The project converts degraded, marginal agricultural land in Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas into native forest. The registry snapshot the hub holds (VROD v2026-08) lists two Gold Standard entries for it, GS12135 (developer Chestnut Carbon LLC) and GS23278, the Megaton Project (developer CC Project SPV LLC), both with the status Gold Standard Certified Design.

On 30 January 2025 Chestnut Carbon signed a forward-starting 25-year offtake agreement with Microsoft for more than 7 million tons of U.S.-based carbon-removal credits, building on an initial 2023 agreement. Chestnut Carbon estimates this work will restore roughly 60,000 acres by planting over 35 million native hardwood and softwood trees across the five states.

Chestnut Carbon (press/site image)Source (opens another site)

Objectives

• Restore marginal and degraded Southern agricultural land to native, biodiverse hardwood-and-pine forest
• Issue carbon-removal credits verified to Gold Standard criteria
• Remove over 100 million tons of CO2 over the project lifetime
• Supply removal credits to corporate buyers under long-term offtake agreements, as with Microsoft

Approach

• Properties are selected by soil type, rainfall and suitable native species, and planted with a biodiverse mix of hardwood and pine seedlings matched to each region's conditions. Stands are monitored throughout the project lifetime, and under the Gold Standard methodology credit issuance only begins at year 5, to confirm established growth before removals are claimed.
• Verification runs against Gold Standard criteria for registry projects GS 12135 and GS 23278, and Chestnut Carbon is additionally certified under the FSC Verified Impact programme for biodiversity conservation (FSC-C180518).