New Forests’ Asia asset secures first carbon credit issuance and sale delivering climate, community and investor outcomes

About

Burapha Agroforestry is a sustainable forestry company operating in Laos and a majority-owned portfolio company of New Forests’ Tropical Asia Forest Fund 2 (TAFF2). The company operates across multiple provinces in central and northern Laos through an integrated model combining plantation forestry, wood processing, community engagement, and conservation.

Burapha has a productive FSC-certified plantation area of 6,219 hectares, of which approximately 80% (5,000 hectares) has undergone agroforestry, and has set aside an additional 7,602 hectares for conservation.

Burapha’s afforestation project has been developed on degraded land, with a focus on generating carbon removals alongside broader environmental and social benefits. The project supports community participation through plantation operations, local engagement, and intercropping, while also maintaining conservation and buffer areas across the landscape.

Key Initiatives

In 2025, Burapha completed its second verified carbon credit issuance and a commercial sale of Verified Carbon Units (VCUs) to SilviCarbon BV, a Netherlands-based company working in nature-based carbon removal. This second phase brings the total number of VCUs issued to date to 281,208– which is equivalent to taking 60,000 cars off the road for one year, or the energy used by 47,000 homes over a similar period.

The Burapha carbon project (VCS 2367) is registered under the Verra Verified Carbon Standard and uses the CDM-approved large-scale afforestation and reforestation methodology AR-ACM0003. This standard applies specifically to the carbon project activities within the defined project boundary.

The first project covered 2,946 hectares in Vientiane Prefecture and the provinces of Vientiane, Xayabouly, and Saysomboun in Laos, with plantations established between 2016 and 2020.

For the first monitoring period from 2016 to 2020, the project achieved 168,050 tCO₂e of net greenhouse gas removals, resulting in 134,440 VCUs issued after buffer deduction. The first issuance was sold to SilviCarbon in 2023 under an offtake agreement.

For the second monitoring period from 2020 to 2022, the project achieved 163,075 tCO₂e of net greenhouse gas removals, resulting in 146,768 VCUs issued after buffer deduction on 8 May 2025.

Independent assurance over the life of the project involved both TÜV Nord and Earthood.

The project reflects Burapha’s broader approach of integrating forestry operations with restoration, sustainable land use, and long-term stewardship.

Impact 

Burapha’s verified carbon issuances demonstrate how afforestation can support climate outcomes while also delivering broader benefits across the landscape. 

Independent verification for the issuance also recognised social and environmental co-benefits, including employment and training opportunities for partner villages associated with plantation operations, intercropping programs that support food security and reduce pressure for agricultural expansion, and biodiversity safeguards through designated conservation areas. Burapha also voluntarily conserves native habitat in buffer areas alongside rivers and streams across its operations. 

This work supports New Forests’ broader approach to managing natural capital assets in ways that contribute to revenue generation, carbon removals, sustainable land use, and rural development over the long term. 

Statistics

• 281,208 VCUs issued to date across two issuances  

• 331,125 tCO₂e in verified net removals for the two monitoring periods 

• 6,212 hectares of productive plantation area, including 5,000 hectares of agroforestry 

• 7,602 hectares set aside for conservation 

Francis Tan, Regional Director, Asset Management, New Forests says: 

We are now accelerating efforts to expand afforestation based carbon credit development in Laos and across our portfolio to scale high integrity removal solutions that meet rising market and investor expectations.