“Over the years we’ve invested significantly in our field data team - focusing on producing trusted ratings. While this ensures the accuracy of our Ratings, it doesn’t allow the scale across the thousands of projects that buyers are considering.”
For more information on carbon credit procurement trends, read our "Key Takeaways for 2025" article. We share five, data-backed tips to improve your procurement strategy.
One more thing: Connect to Supply customers also get access to the rest of Sylvera's tools. That means you can easily see project ratings and evaluate an individual project's strengths, procure quality carbon credits, and even monitor project activity (particularly if you’ve invested at the pre-issuance stage.)
Book a free demo of Sylvera to see our platform's procurement and reporting features in action.
Quality of Sylvera's Biomass Atlas data recognised for ARR project validation and verification, setting a new benchmark for digital MRV
Bringing independent, science-backed data to ARR issuance
Sylvera's Biomass Atlas data will be available through Verra's Project Hub — Verra's digital platform for project submission and management — giving developers access to Verra-vetted biomass data within a streamlined project workflow.
Biomass Atlas delivers above-ground biomass density, canopy height, and per-pixel uncertainty estimates at 30-metre resolution, annually from 2000 to present. Underpinned by more than $10 million invested by Sylvera in proprietary Multi-Scale LiDAR campaigns spanning 250,000+ hectares. This provides the complete, auditable time-series view of carbon stock that Verra's methodology requires.
This follows a rigorous pilot conducted with ARR developer The Green Branch, in which Sylvera's full VM0047 Performance Benchmark workflow was tested against a live project. The pilot demonstrated additionality across scenarios using Biomass Atlas as the primary stocking index, with results from the project start year through the full crediting period to 2059. All results aligned to VM0047's technical requirements.
What it means for developers
The practical implications for VM0047 project developers are significant. Developers can now work with Sylvera to fully execute and deliver a Verra-aligned performance benchmark. Or, they can access above-ground biomass data to feed into their own VM0047 performance benchmarks.
In terms of economics, verification processes that previously required months of expensive field campaigns can now be completed faster and at a fraction of the cost. That lower barrier means developers can start verification earlier in the project lifecycle and run it more frequently. This translates directly into earlier and more continuous credit issuance, and meaningfully improved project cashflows.
Site selection, plot sequencing, and commercial viability assessments can similarly be completed faster, more reliably, and at lower cost.
What it means for the market
This milestone reflects a broader shift underway in forest carbon, where accurate remote sensing is becoming the backbone of the project lifecycle. From scouting potential project sites and assessing commercial viability, to ongoing performance monitoring by developers, buyers, and investors throughout a project's life.
The ability to access accurate, consistent, independently validated biomass data is transforming efficiency and accuracy at scale. Sylvera's designation by Verra establishes a clear precedent for what rigorous DMRV looks like in practice.
What's next
Sylvera and Verra are already exploring how Biomass Atlas data can be extended to support additional Verra methodologies and project types beyond VM0047 ARR. As Verra continues to build out the project hub and its DMRV framework, Sylvera continues to work with leading registries - including Verra - to ensure our data can support the implementation of high integrity projects using NbS methodologies.
"Carbon markets only scale if built on quality, transparent data. Historically, that's meant expensive, slow field campaigns that put quality out of reach for many, but meeting Verra's VM0047 Stocking Index requirements in this way is a tangible proof point that dMRV is ready. Developers can now access independently validated, audit-ready biomass data, reduce uncertainty, and focus their resources on building better projects rather than grinding through manual MRV processes." — Allister Furey, CEO, Sylvera
"Verra is continuing to build the digital infrastructure that makes high-integrity carbon projects faster and easier to verify. Integrating trusted, independently validated biomass data from independent organizations such as Sylvera into Verra’s processes will strengthen the rigor and robustness of our issuance process and give developers clearer, more consistent pathways to registration." — Mandy Rambharos, CEO, Verra
Developers working on VM0047 ARR projects can access Biomass Atlas data directly to support their own performance benchmarking and project workflows — or work with Sylvera's team for a more hands-on engagement, where we handle the heavy lifting. Get in touch to find out which approach fits your project.
About Sylvera
Sylvera is the carbon intelligence platform used by the world's leading companies, investors, and governments to assess, monitor, and transact carbon credits with confidence. Sylvera's Biomass Atlas delivers wall-to-wall forest carbon data, backed by more than $10M in proprietary Multi-Scale LiDAR research, providing the accuracy and auditability that registries, developers, and investors require.
About Verra
Verra is a global leader helping to tackle the world's most intractable environmental and social challenges. As a mission-driven nonprofit organization, Verra is committed to helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve livelihoods, and protect natural resources by working with the private and public sectors. We support climate action and sustainable development with standards programs and tools that credibly, transparently, and robustly assess environmental and social impacts and enable funding for sustaining and scaling up projects that verifiably deliver these benefits.
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