Southern Cardamom REDD+

Inside the project

Launched in 2015, the project secures conservation financing for Southern Cardamom National Park and Tatai Wildlife Sanctuary through verified carbon units, covering 445,339 hectares according to its Verra registry description. It aims to avoid an estimated 3 to 4 million tonnes of CO2 per year over a 30-year crediting period.

The Cardamom Mountains host exceptional biodiversity: Asian elephant, sun and Asiatic black bears, clouded leopard, dhole, pileated gibbon and the critically endangered Siamese crocodile and southern river terrapin. Reported deforestation fell sharply against the pre-project period.

The project drew international scrutiny when Human Rights Watch raised allegations of abuses tied to enforcement. Verra suspended credit issuance in June 2023 and, after a multi-month review, reinstated the project on 10 September 2024 after Wildlife Alliance adopted reforms. Wildlife Alliance disputes the original allegations, and some community concerns persisted into 2025. Reinstatement reflects Verra's review conclusion, not a finding that harm did or did not occur.

Verra's registry names the Royal Government of Cambodia's Ministry of Environment as proponent of VCS 1748; as viewed in September 2026 it shows 27,627,237 units issued, 7,199,926 retired and 2,345,913 cancelled, with a verification approval requested.

Image credit

Andyb3947, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsImage source ↗

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Objectives

• Secure sustainable protected-area financing via verified carbon credits
• Reduce deforestation and avoid emissions across the Cardamom landscape
• Protect IUCN Red List biodiversity and critical habitat
• Support community development and livelihoods in and around the project zone

Approach

• Uses a VCS REDD+ methodology with satellite deforestation monitoring against a historical reference period, plus CCB biodiversity and community monitoring and SD VISta for SDG contributions. Year-round Wildlife Alliance ranger patrols feed ground-truth enforcement and wildlife data into third-party verification audits.
• Following the Human Rights Watch allegations, Verra placed the project on hold in 2023 and required corrective action before reinstatement in September 2024, including revised human-rights and anti-retaliation policies, anonymous community-consent voting and strengthened grievance mechanisms, with follow-up reporting required.