Rainforest Builder announces Project Buffalo's registration by Verra
Project Buffalo in Sierra Leone will generate carbon removal credits under the VM0047 methodology. This is Rainforest Builder’s second VM0047 project registered by Verra, after Project Akwaaba in Ghana achieved registration earlier this year.
LONDON, 17 September 2026 - Rainforest Builder, a fully integrated tropical forest restoration company operating in West Africa, has announced that Project Buffalo in Sierra Leone is now registered by Verra under the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS).
Project Buffalo will generate carbon removal credits under the VM0047 methodology. This is Rainforest Builder’s second VM0047 project registered by Verra, after Project Akwaaba in Ghana achieved registration earlier this year. There are only ten VM0047 projects that have reached this stage worldwide.
Verra also approved Project Buffalo’s validation under the Climate, Community, and Biodiversity Standard (CCB), with the CCB Gold Level distinction for exceptional biodiversity benefits.
This registration is an important step for Project Buffalo towards its aim to restore forest ecosystems in Sierra Leone. The country experienced 41% tree cover loss between 2000 and 2025,1 and less than 1% of Sierra Leone’s land area is classified as old growth forest today.2 Project Buffalo is creating new, protected forest habitat, which is critical for reversing forest loss, boosting biodiversity, and providing ecosystem services.
Rainforest Builder’s team in Sierra Leone has been working to restore forests on degraded community land since 2023, starting in Fakunya and Wonde Chiefdoms. As Project Buffalo expands to new areas to restore an initial 15,000 hectares, it is continuing to deliver positive socioeconomic impacts on rural livelihoods through job creation and community land-leasing. A core focus of the project is its broad-based benefit-sharing programme, which includes smallholder agricultural improvement, road infrastructure, and a community development fund.
With registration completed, the project can now commence its first verification to issue carbon removal credits and deliver to customers. Carbon revenue will enable the project to continue funding benefits to communities over the project’s lifetime and maintain restored areas.
Edward Stephenson, Co-CEO of Rainforest Builder, said: “This is a great milestone for Project Buffalo and for Sierra Leone. Designed under the most exacting of carbon methodologies and grounded in restoration science, Project Buffalo is already delivering huge benefits to rural communities and the Western Guinean Lowland Forest ecosystem. With two VCS & CCB Gold projects registered by Rainforest Builder so far and a growing project pipeline, West Africa is becoming a globally important region for carbon removal supply. Alongside project expansion we are now looking forward to delivering to our customers worldwide.”
____
About Rainforest Builder
Founded in 2022, Rainforest Builder is a fully integrated tropical forest restoration company with operations in Sierra Leone, Ghana and Guinea, employing more than 2,500 people. Taking a science-led, community-focused approach, the company restores forest ecosystems while providing ecosystem and economic benefits to communities. The projects deliver high-quality carbon removals and biodiversity outcomes for corporate customers globally. Rainforest Builder’s four active projects aim to restore at least 370,000 hectares as part of the company’s long-term goal of restoring one million hectares by 2040. Learn more at rainforestbuilder.com. The future is restorable.
Media Contact
1. Global Nature Watch, Sierra Leone
2. FAO (2025) Global Forest Resources Assessment 2025: Report Sierra Leone.
