4. Verification
What is verification?
Verification is the ongoing evaluation of the project against the requirements of the Woodland Carbon Code.
Verifications are carried out by organisations which have been approved by the UK Accreditation Service. Verifiers check claims about actual carbon capture are accurate and that the project continues to be well managed.
When do I verify and how long does it take?
Your first verification should be complete five years after the project start date.
After this, you should verify your project at least every ten years, unless you choose to self-assess instead.
You can find the due date on your latest validation or verification statement. Verification dates are linked to the vintage end dates of your units.
It’s best to start planning your monitoring and verification at least 18 months before the verification is due.
Once you have submitted your verification documents, it may take 12 months for your verification to be completed.
You can contact us to request a verification extension if there are extenuating circumstances.
Verifying groups of projects
Most groups are formed before validation, but you can also create a group for verification. If you do this:
- The start dates of the projects should be within two years of each other so their verifications are due within two years of each other.
- The verification due date for the group will be the latest of the individual project verification due dates. Contact us to arrange extensions for the projects in the group with earlier verification due dates.
- You need a group manager and group agreement (see 2.1 commitment of landowners and project/ group managers).
- The grouping should remain the same for each subsequent verification.
Who can verify my project?
Organic Farmers & Growers and Soil Association are accredited by the UK Accreditation Service to verify Woodland Carbon Code projects.
| Organic Farmers & Growers | Soil Association |
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|
Katherine Degg |
Rebecca Fairman |
| T: 01939 291 800 | T: 01179 142 435 |
How much does verification cost?
The cost of verification varies because each third-party verifier sets their own fees. We recommend getting quotes from both verifiers. As of January 2025, the cost of third-party verification is £1,800 to £3,500 plus VAT per project.
The cost of verifying a group will be higher, but the cost per project will be lower. For example, the cost per project could be £370 to £1,750 plus VAT depending on the size of the group.
There may be extra costs for travel and subsistence if any site visits are required.
If you have hired a project developer, they might charge you for their time to survey your woodland, complete your verification documents and work with the verifier on your behalf. Be sure to discuss this with them.
When your project is verified, Pending Issuance Units are converted to Woodland Carbon Units. There is a minimum fee of £100 for this.
- Converting Pending Issuance Units to Woodland Carbon Units costs 10 pence per unit.
- Projects may issue extra units at verification if they’ve removed more carbon than expected or didn’t issue Pending Issuance Units at validation. Issuing extra units costs 15 pence per unit.
If the total unit costs are less than £100, you will be charged £100. If the total unit costs are more than £100, you will be charged the unit costs. Visit the registry fees page for more details.
What's the process?
1. Select a verifier
Agree and sign a contract with either the Soil Association or Organic Farmers & Growers.
2. Survey plan check
Ask your verification body to check your survey plan before carrying out your survey.
Carry out your monitoring survey. See how to monitor your project.
3. Prepare and submit documents
Prepare and submit the following documents referring to our guidance and template documents).
- Project progress report
- Full monitoring report for each stratum in the project (or a basic monitoring report for small projects)
- Photos of the site as a whole and at each plot location
- Map showing plot locations
- Landowner, tenant and agent contact details (if any parties have changed since last assessment)
- Landowner/tenant commitment statement (if any parties have changed)
- Group agreement (if any parties have changed)
Other supporting evidence may be required. Refer to the project progress report for further details.
All signed documents (the commitment statement and group agreement ) should be in pdf format and should be a single, coherent, legible, unaltered and complete document.
Where the signee is not the sole owner or is the legal signatory for a trust, company, charity or partnership, they should also confirm their authority to sign the documents.
4. Project audit
The verifier will audit your project or group to ensure it meets Woodland Carbon Code requirements.
This will involve a site visit at year five verification for single projects and may involve one at later verifications. For groups, only a sample of projects within a group would be visited. If an independent company surveys your project, it could be less likely to require a site visit by your verifier.
You might be asked to provide additional evidence or to take corrective actions. You’ll have one month to complete corrective actions, unless there are exceptional circumstances.
Some corrective actions can take time to complete, such as beating up or ongoing herbivore management. In this case, your project can be verified as ‘subject to corrective actions being completed’ as long a remedial plan is provided.
A remedial plan should be a separate document which answers the following questions:
- Why is remedial action needed?
- What action(s) will you take?
- How much of any action will you carry out?
- When will you take action?
- Who will carry out the actions?
- Where will the actions take place? (for example, you might identify areas to be beaten up on a map)
If you haven’t completed corrective actions or provided a remedial plan, your project will either be verified with a red status or not be verified, depending on the level of concern.
5. Project review
Your documents will be reviewed by a second verifier-reviewer and checked by the Woodland Carbon Code team for consistency and completeness.
If the verification is successful, the verifier will issue a verification statement. It will normally be valid for ten years.
The verification statement will have a green, amber, red or not verified rating. Here’s the standard for each rating and the implications for your project and units.
Green (unmodified)
This project delivered all carbon units within the current vintage and there are no concerns about the ability of the project to deliver units in future vintages.
| Year 5 | Year 15 onwards | |
| Planted woodlands |
Trees are healthy and the actual stocking density is at least 90% of the planned stocking density without any corrective actions, and The site did not undergo significant beat-up (more than 30% of trees) in the planting season prior to the verification survey, and There is no concern about the health or growth of the trees. |
The actual sequestration is more than or equal to the predicted sequestration, with no corrective actions required, and There is no concern about the health or growth of the trees. |
| Natural regeneration |
Seedlings are healthy and the actual stocking density is at least 400 stems per hectare, and There are no concerns about the level or browsing or other threats to the success of natural regeneration. |
The site has reached the target stocking density within the upfront claimable area, and There are no concerns about the level or browsing or other threats to the success of natural regeneration. |
Implications of green (unmodified) status:
| Year 5 | Year 15 onwards |
| Any Pending Issuance Units in the vintage will be converted to Woodland Carbon Units |
Any Pending Issuance Units in the vintage will be converted to Woodland Carbon Units. If your project sequesters more than predicted, we will issue extra Woodland Carbon Units |
Amber (modified)
This project delivered all carbon units within the current vintage but is verified subject to ongoing corrective actions being completed. Provided the remedial plan to complete these actions is followed, there are no concerns about the ability of the project to deliver units in future vintages.
The standard for amber (modified) status:
| Year 5 | Year 15 onwards | |
| Planted woodlands |
A remedial plan is provided which addresses concerns. Amber (modified) status is given if:
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The actual sequestration is more than or equal to the predicted sequestration, but a remedial plan is required to ensure continued delivery. |
| Natural regeneration | No amber status | No amber status |
Implications of amber (modified) status:
| Year 5 | Year 15 onwards |
|
Any Pending Issuance Units in the vintage will be converted to Woodland Carbon Units If you have grant aid, we will inform the relevant grant team of the status of your project. |
Any Pending Issuance Units in the vintage will be converted to Woodland Carbon Units. If your project sequesters more than predicted, we will issue extra Woodland Carbon Units If you have grant aid, we will inform the relevant grant team of the status of your project. |
Red: (adverse)
This project failed to deliver all carbon units within the current vintage and/or there are concerns about this project’s ability to deliver sufficient units in future vintages.
The standard for red (adverse) status:
| Year 5 | Year 15 onwards | |
| Planted woodlands |
The actual stocking density is less than 70% of planned, or Where there are concerns the net planted area is over 10% smaller than planned, or Any live trees are seriously compromised in health or growth such that the project is unlikely to be on track by year 15 or The project might reach amber (modified) status but there is no remedial plan. |
The actual sequestration is less than the predicted sequestration, or There’s evidence tree health/growth is likely to be compromised in future (through pest/disease, climate, ownership, development or other), and there’s no remedial plan to address this. |
| Natural regeneration |
The stocking density has not yet reached 400 stems per hectare in the upfront claimable area or There are serious concerns about browsing levels or other threats to the success of natural regeneration |
The stocking density has failed to reach the target density in the upfront claimable area, or There are serious concerns about browsing levels or other threats to the success of natural regeneration |
Implications of red (adverse) status:
| Year 5 | Year 15 onwards |
|
All Pending Issuance Units in the vintage will be marked ‘not delivered’ You will have to do an extra verification at year 10. Any project in a group with red status will verify alone at year 10 and the whole group will verify together again at year 15. You will re-assess your carbon prediction and update the carbon calculator at year 10 or 15, once the level of establishment is clearer. If this reduces the number Pending Issuance Units from future vintages, some Pending Issuance Units will be marked 'not delivered'. If you have grant aid, we will inform the relevant grant team of the status of your project. If any Pending Issuance Units marked ‘not delivered’ were sold, you may need to compensate the buyer, depending on the terms of your sales contract. |
If the actual sequestration is less than predicted, then any undelivered Pending Issuance Units will be marked 'not delivered'. Your next verification will normally be due in ten years You must re-assess your carbon prediction and update the carbon calculator. If this reduces the number of Pending Issuance Units from future vintages, some Pending Issuance Units will be marked 'not delivered'. If you have grant aid, we will inform the relevant grant team of the status of your project. If any Pending Issuance Units marked ‘not delivered’ were sold, you may need to compensate the buyer, depending on the terms of your sales contract. |
Not verified (unsatisfactory - disclaimed opinion)
In some cases where there are serious concerns about your project and corrective actions were insufficient or not received within the agreed timeframe, and/or verification has not been possible e.g. due to a lack of sufficient information, access or cooperation, the verifier will provide an ‘unsatisfactory’ status. Where this occurs, both the project and all Pending Issuance Units allocated to the project will be marked ‘not delivered’. If Pending Issuance Units were sold, you may need to compensate the buyer, depending on the terms of your sales contract.
6. Update the registry and convert units
The final step is to update your project as verified in the registry and convert any Pending Issuance Units to Woodland Carbon Units.
- If you have units to convert, log in to the registry to create and submit an 'issuance' of the relevant number of Woodland Carbon Units for the current vintage. See how to request conversion of Pending Issuance Units to Woodland Carbon Units on registry.
- Your verification body will upload your final documents and verification statement.
- S&P Global will invoice you a verification fee, including converting any Pending Issuance Units into Woodland Carbon Units and issuing any extra Woodland Carbon Units.
Once you have paid:
- Any Pending Issuance Units delivered will convert to Woodland Carbon Units in the account in which they are held
- Any extra Woodland Carbon Units will be issued to the project developer
- Any Pending Issuance Units which are not delivered will be marked 'not delivered'. See registry rules of use.
