<aside> <img src="/icons/tablet_green.svg" alt="/icons/tablet_green.svg" width="40px" /> TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Introduction
• Getting Started
• Creating a New Project
• Screening Project Results
• Underlying Datasets
• FAQs </aside>

ARR Eligibility

We assess the area of the project which could be eligible under Verra’s VM0047 methodology, based on a historical deforestation assessment (i.e., the project area must not have been deforested within the past 10 years), present day land cover and the selected land cover types for project activities, as set in the parameter configurations by the user. Results are presented as area (ha) and % of project area that could be eligible for ARR development. Total area (ha) of deforestation within the past 10 years is also flagged.

We assess for project area overlap with existing forest carbon projects, including all project types (REDD, ARR, IFM, blue carbon) and major standards (Verra, Gold Standard, Cercarbono, ART Trees, Plan Vivo, BioCarbon, American Carbon Registry and EcoRegistry). Existing forest carbon projects are shown within the central map panel in green, and any overlap is flagged within the results panel.

We assess for any peatland or tidal wetland areas both within the project area and a 10km buffer, using the Tropical and Subtropical Wetlands Distribution dataset from Gumbricht et al. (2017). This assessment highlights areas of mangrove, swamp/bog, fen, riverine/lacustrine, floodout and general marshes in the project area. Under some methodologies, the project area and a 10km buffer area must be less than 2% and 10% peatland or tidal wetland vegetation, respectively.

ARR Screening Summary

The ARR screening summary presents the total and average annual carbon credit potential over the first 5 years after the project starts, across the proposed project area. Carbon credit potential (i.e., the predicted emissions removals) in tCO2e is calculated across the proposed project area using the predicted removals via new tree growth (derived from the growth curve set in the parameter configurations). This value is then adjusted for the user-set dynamic baseline discount.

Results are presented both in a bar chart and a table, detailing the total carbon removals potential (tCO2e) and proposed planting area (ha) per site, if there are multiple sites within your project area. Results can be toggled between Total Potential or Average Annual Potential, and can also be displayed on a per ha basis.

ARR Predicted Carbon Credits

The predicted cumulative and annual carbon credit potential is presented over an adjustable length of time from the project start date, using the predicted removals via new tree growth (derived from the growth curve set in the parameter configurations). The user can choose to see results over the next 5, 10, 25, 50 or 100 years.

Results are presented as tCO2e through time in both a graph and a table, which show the carbon credits potential per year. They can be toggled between Cumulative Potential or Annual Potential, and can also be displayed on a per ha basis.

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The following chapters are only available in Screening Tool Pro - contact your account executive about getting access to these features

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Baseline (Pro Only)

This chapter allows you to see the historical trend of the above-ground biomass (ABG) in the project area and a 10km surrounding buffer calculated using ESA Climate Change Initiative (CCI) biomass data for the period of 2016-2024 due to the data’s availability. The biomass change over time is shown on the map for the selected area showing those areas that have gained or lost ABG over this time period.

• The project area trend in biomass is compared against a buffer area’s trend to see whether any change in biomass is specific to the project site or reflects a change in the surrounding landscape.
• The ARR Slope Histogram shows the distribution of 10-year aboveground biomass density (AGBD) slope values across the 10km buffer zone, with each bar representing the area (ha) of buffer land falling within a given slope bin (tC/ha/yr). Negative slopes, shown in purple, indicate areas where biomass has declined over the period; positive slopes, shown in yellow, indicate areas where it has increased.
• Alongside the chart, summary metrics report the mean and median slope across the full buffer, together with the mean slope calculated separately for losing areas and for gaining areas. The Detailed and Area (ha) controls let users adjust the level of detail shown and the unit in which results are presented.

Growth Curve (Pro Only)

This chapter's output lets you assess the feasibility of a project's claimed growth curve and carbon sequestration potential, by comparing it against a curve predicted by scientific literature. The map shows the area’s carbon sequestration potential over 100 years, sourced from Robinson et al. (2025), which gives biomass growth curves for every 1km² globally and so provides a location-appropriate estimate taking into account local environmental conditions in the project area you have selected for testing.

• The chart plots the project's proposed growth curve against the mean predicted growth curve derived from the selected literature source, shown with 68% and 95% confidence intervals over the selected time period from the project start date. A dashed horizontal line marks the maximum estimated current above-ground woody biomass carbon inside or within 10km of the project area, shown for context.
• The two dropdown menus beside “compare with” allow you to see the predicted growth curve from a variety of peer-reviewed sources for the most commonly planted tree species in reforestation projects, and see the curve for a time period up to 100 years.
• The default curve shown is from the Chapman-Richards A curve parameter for secondary forests (age 1 to 100 years), a function parameter produced as part of Robinson et al. (2025).

Leakage (Pro Only)

This chapter allows you to assess to what extent an ARR project developed in this area risks driving increased deforestation in the surrounding area. The map shows the historical deforestation over time in the area selected, colour coded by the year it occurred.

• The risk of leakage associated with the project is assessed by looking at the conversion rate of forest to productive land (e.g., cropland/shrubland) in the project buffer zone, with an associated risk classification. A summary is provided of the annual area and total area of forest converted within the buffer zone, and the total amount of forest remaining.
• The deforestation risk classifications are as follows, where the % is the % conversion rate of forest to agriculture over the last 10 years within a 100km buffer area.
  • Low (<0.1%)
  • Moderate (0.1-1.0%)
  • High (>1.0%)
• The Deforestation by Conversion to Productive Land chart shows the annual area (ha) of forest converted to productive land within the buffer zone over the 10 years prior to project start, split by land cover type (grassland/shrubland and cropland).
• This is derived from Space Intelligence’s “Global Harmonised Layers” dataset, described in full in the “Underlying Datasets” section of this guide.

Satellite (Pro Only)

This chapter lets you view high-resolution satellite imagery of the selected area from the Sentinel-2 archive within Screening Tool Pro. Sentinel-2 provides global coverage at 10-60m resolution, with a revisit time of approximately 5 days.

• The bar at the bottom of the map, (hidden and revealed by clicking the up arrow), lets you select the time of the displayed image. It also lets you filter by frequency of image availability (annual and quarterly) and by maximum cloud cover (0-30%).