ARR Horizonte

  • Verra is a carbon credit registry that verifies carbon credit projects, issues credits, and aggregates project data. Verra also publishes methodologies for a variety of project types. Verra hosts important documents containing information about project design and location. Verra hosts projects that are mostly part of the voluntary carbon market, and do not participate in regulatory markets.

  • Afforestation refers to establishing forests in areas that were not historically wooded, reforestation involves replanting trees in areas that were previously forested but have been cleared, and revegation refers to replanting vegetation other than trees and forest. Both practices can potentially enhance biodiversity by creating habitats and corridors for wildlife, though their effectiveness depends on the species planted and the local ecosystem context.

  • Monoculture (-) vs. Polyculture(+): Carbon removal through nature-based strategies involves using plants to sequester carbon. The range of plant diversity varies from project to project and has biodiversity implications for the area. Projects that utilize diverse plant species in operations instead of singular species may potentially uplift biodiversity.


    Presence (-) vs. absence (+) of Invasive Species: Specific species selection for nature-based carbon credit projects also has biodiversity implications. While there has not been a clear divide between native and non-native species' effects on biodiversity, presence of invasive species are shown to impact biodiversity negatively.


    Extractive (-) vs. Non-extractive(+): Extractive activities in addition to generation of carbon credits, such as the timber, agricultural, or mining operations pose a threat to biodiversity due to its disruptive nature.

  • The ARR Horizonte project aims to enhance income, create jobs, and promote sustainable practices for year-round food security while addressing risks and consulting local communities to prevent negative impacts. Aligning with Brazil's goal to reduce unemployment by 40% by 2030, initiatives like Inclusive Recycling and Nursery Seedlings generate jobs and ensure labor law compliance. Suzano, the project's developer, provides workforce training to address labor shortages, with the Nursery Seedlings project fostering employment through native species restoration. Partnering with São Thomé, Ponte Velha, and Almanara communities, the project supports agrarian reform settlements, dairy and cattle farming, and subsistence agriculture without significantly altering local socio-economic structures. Biannual monitoring ensures long-term poverty reduction and socio-economic stability.

  • The project demonstrates high biodiversity additionality by planting eucalyptus plantations on degraded pasturelands. Without intervention, natural regeneration would have been slow or absent, making the project's active restoration efforts a key driver of biodiversity recovery.

The ARR Horizonte Carbon Project, developed by Suzano, is a privately-owned initiative launched in 2017 in Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil. Registered with Verra under ID number 33501, this ARR project covers 15,517.87 hectares within the tropical savanna biome. The project aims to sequester 2,686,131.95 tCO2e over 30 years by converting pasturelands into eucalyptus plantations and restoring degraded land with native vegetation. Spanning 14,427.66 hectares of eucalyptus plantations and 999.10 hectares of native vegetation restoration, the project seeks to increase forest cover and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the region. However, the large-scale conversion to eucalyptus monocultures in the biodiverse Cerrado savanna raises concerns about potential impacts on local ecosystems.

CAUTION: While ARR Horizonte is located in an area with high potential to conserve an existing biodiversity hotspot, this project is a monoculture plantation of an invasive species, which does NOT support biodiversity.

ARR Horizonte Scores:

  • Ecosystem Intactness: Measured using the Biodiversity Intactness Index (BII) BII can be used to quantify changes in ecosystem composition, providing a measure of Species Richness and abundance relative to undisturbed ecosystems.

  • Species Threat Level: Measured using the Species Threat Abatement and Restoration (STARt). The STARt value indicates how local threat abatement could contribute to avoiding species extinction, and every species in a given region is assigned its own score.

  • Presence of Rare Species: Measured using Rarity-weighted Richness (RWR). RWR differs from traditional Species Richness by highlighting areas that support rare species. Rare species are defined here as those that have small geographic ranges. This makes RWR useful for identifying areas critical for conserving endemic, or geographically restricted, species.

  • Restoration Potential: Measured using the Species Threat Abatement and Restoration (STARr) metric. The STAR metric incorporates present species threat levels, threats, and restoration opportunities on a regional level. The metric also outputs a STARr value, which quantifies the impact of restoration based on how much habitat is restorable and what proportion of that specific habitat exists worldwide.

  • Human-caused Degradation: Measured using the global Human Modification Index (HMI). The global HMI is a commonly used metric helpful when quantifying the structural integrity of ecosystems and measuring how humans have altered the terrestrial landscape around the world, degrading ecosystems and impacting biodiversity in the process given location.