Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Carbon credits · Peru · 2008–2026

Cordillera Azul National Park carbon project

Nature's voice · report
572 hectares of my forest were lost each year.
During the project, against 262 ha a year before (AP satellite analysis).
Did nature suffer? Yes. Harm is on record. Disputed
Calculated by published method, from figures on record; not part of the record
By the IPCC Tier 1 method, the loss of that forest released an estimated 100,000 to 530,000 tonnes of CO₂ each year.
The park's forest is assumed to be mature (primary) forest. Its ecological zone is taken as tropical rainforest or tropical mountain forest; the range covers both. How this is calculated
What the record lacks: 5 none on record · 1 not disclosed · 2 disputed See the gaps
Accounts of the harm differ
Did the project reduce deforestation?
  • Press and investigations AP satellite analysis: Yearly forest loss rose from 262 ha before the project to 572 ha during it. AP via KSAT
  • Company or project CIMA, park manager: The project “supports all efforts to avoid deforestation”. CIMA
  • Standard-setters and registries Verra: Said the project's carbon savings were clear.

Shell and TotalEnergies paid more than $80 million for credits from a Peruvian park. A satellite analysis found forest loss more than doubled during the project period.

262 → 572 haAnnual forest loss, before vs during
Satellite analysis for AP.
What?
The non-profit CIMA has run a REDD+ carbon project in Peru's Cordillera Azul National Park since 2008, selling more than 28 million credits; Shell and TotalEnergies paid more than $80m for more than 30 million credits. A satellite analysis for AP found yearly forest loss more than doubled during the project period. AP via KSAT
Where?
Cordillera Azul National Park, Peru, about 1.35 million hectares; the community case was heard in Bellavista and Juanjuí and taken to the Constitutional Court. CIMA
When?
The park was created in 2001 and the REDD+ project began in 2008. The Kichwa filed suit in July 2020; a Bellavista court ruled for them in April 2023 and again on 13 December 2024, both later overturned, and the Constitutional Court heard the case on 17 July 2026 with no ruling found. Forest Peoples Programme
Who?
Gained
  • Shell and TotalEnergies — Used more than 30 million credits, bought for more than $80m (about $2.67 per credit, estimate), to offset emissions; Shell used the park in billboard campaigns. SourceMaterial
  • CIMA (park manager) — Carbon revenue covers about 90% of park operating costs; the absolute amount is not stated. AP via KSAT
  • Verra — Registration fees of about $3m (estimate).
  • Credit intermediaries — Margins not disclosed.
Lost
  • Kichwa community of Puerto Franco — Says it lost free access to hunt, fish and gather in the park; no document shows a community share of carbon revenue. AP via KSAT
Harmed
  • Forest in and around the park — Yearly forest loss of 262 ha before the project and 572 ha during 2009–2021, according to a satellite analysis for AP. AP via KSAT
Why?
CIMA says the project supports "all efforts to avoid deforestation" and "conserves water resources, prevents flooding". Rainforest Foundation UK found its baseline assumed population growth of up to 26% a year and said the main threats had been "already rapidly resolved" after the park was created. Rainforest Foundation UK
How?
Credits are issued under Verra's standard for deforestation the project says it avoided against a projected baseline, sold mainly to Shell and TotalEnergies, and the revenue funds park operations. Rainforest Foundation UK
In proportion Yearly forest loss during the project was about 2.2 times the pre-project rate (572 against 262 ha; estimate). AP via KSAT
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

The non-profit CIMA manages Cordillera Azul National Park, about 1.35 million hectares, and runs a REDD+ project there since 2008. About 90% of park operating costs come from carbon revenue.

More than 28 million credits were sold. Shell and TotalEnergies paid more than $80 million for more than 30 million credits. Shell used the park in billboard campaigns.

A satellite analysis for AP found yearly forest loss of 262 hectares before the project and 572 hectares during it. Verra said the project's carbon savings were clear.

The Kichwa community of Puerto Franco says it lost hunting, fishing and gathering rights. A court ruled in its favour in December 2024; a higher court reversed it; the Constitutional Court heard the case on 17 July 2026. No ruling has been found.

  1. 2008REDD+ project begins
  2. 2014Loan secured against carbon credits announced at COP20
  3. 2021Shell billboard campaigns
  4. 2023AP satellite analysis
  5. 2024Bellavista court rules for Kichwa community
  6. 2026Constitutional Court hearing (17 July)

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“…supports all efforts to avoid deforestation.”

CIMA, project page · current · CIMA

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Did the project reduce deforestation?
Press and investigations
AP satellite analysis

Yearly forest loss rose from 262 ha before the project to 572 ha during it.

AP via KSAT
Company or project
CIMA, park manager

The project “supports all efforts to avoid deforestation”.

CIMA
Standard-setters and registries
Verra

Said the project's carbon savings were clear.

Does the park override the Kichwa community's rights?
Courts
Bellavista court (2024)

Ordered land titling, prior consultation and benefit-sharing; later reversed by a higher court.

Forest Peoples Programme
Courts
Constitutional Court of Peru

Heard the case on 17 July 2026; no ruling found.

Forest Peoples Programme

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • 1.35 million hectares protected
  • Water resources conserved

Recorded

  • Forest loss rose from 262 to 572 ha a year (AP analysis)
  • No documented community benefit-sharing
  • Intermediary margins undisclosed

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
Park operating costs covered by carbon revenue—
About 90% of costs; amount not stated.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Paid by Shell and TotalEnergies for credits> $80m
Verra registration fees estimate$3m
Intermediary margins—
Not disclosed.
Currency: USD · Window: 2008–2023. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

  1. 2024Overturned on appeal
    Kichwa community of Puerto Franco v. Peruvian state
    Bellavista court · Civil · Kichwa community of Puerto Franco → Peruvian state

    In December 2024 the court ordered land titling, prior consultation and benefit-sharing from the carbon project; a higher court reversed the ruling. Forest Peoples Programme

  2. Ongoing
    Puerto Franco case at the Constitutional Court
    Constitutional Court of Peru · Appeal · Kichwa community of Puerto Franco → Peruvian state

    Heard on 17 July 2026; no ruling found. Forest Peoples Programme

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Forest loss per year
262 → 572 ha
Before vs during project

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Case pending / contestedKey earnings undisclosedDisplacement reported

Nature

  • Disputed Did the project reduce deforestation?

Money

  • None on record Park operating costs covered by carbon revenue — About 90% of costs; amount not stated.
  • Not disclosed Intermediary margins — Not disclosed.

Accounts

  • Disputed Does the park override the Kichwa community's rights?
  • None on record Constitutional Court of Peru: Heard the case on 17 July 2026; no ruling found.

Record

Did the harm stop?

No.

Who paid?

The Kichwa community of Puerto Franco, which reports losing access to its territory.

Sources

Voices on record: ✓ Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society— Researchers

Company or project

Press and investigations

Communities and civil society

  2. Case study: Cordillera Azul
    Rainforest Foundation UK · 2023-07

Connected cases

Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
Terms used on this page

Science and environment

Hectare (ha)
A unit of area equal to 10,000 square metres, about 2.5 acres. 100 hectares make one square kilometre.
IPCC Tier 1
The simplest method in the IPCC guidelines for greenhouse-gas inventories, using default values per forest type when local measurements are not available.

Carbon and conservation finance

Baseline
The projected scenario of what would have happened without a project, such as an expected rate of deforestation. Credits are issued for the difference between the baseline and what actually happened, so an inflated baseline produces more credits.
Buffer pool
A reserve of credits held back from sale by a carbon programme to cover future losses, such as forest burned or logged after credits were issued. It works as the programme's own insurance.
Carbon credit
A certificate representing one tonne of carbon dioxide (or equivalent) that a project says it reduced, avoided or removed. Buyers use credits to balance their own emissions in climate claims.
Offset
Using carbon credits to balance emissions released elsewhere, so that a buyer can claim lower or zero net emissions.
REDD+
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation. A UN framework under which forest projects earn carbon credits for deforestation they say they prevented, measured against a projected baseline.
Standard-setter and registry
An organisation that writes the rules for carbon credits, approves projects, and records when credits are issued and retired. Such bodies typically charge fees per credit.

Law and courts

Arbitration
A private dispute process in which an appointed arbitrator, instead of a court, decides the case.
Constitutional Court
The highest court for questions of constitutional rights in a country.
Land titling
Formal legal recognition of ownership of land.
Prior consultation
The right of indigenous peoples, under ILO Convention 169 and national laws, to be consulted before measures that affect their lands are adopted.

Places and local terms

Kichwa
An indigenous people of the Peruvian and Ecuadorian Amazon.

Insurance

Underwriter
An insurer, or a person at an insurer, who assesses a risk and decides whether and on what terms to insure it.
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