The first officially verified greenhouse gas credits under the pioneering UN-backed Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) initiative have been issued to a scheme in Kenya, marking the start of what supporters hope will be a new era in global forest protection.

Around 1.45 million credits were issued last week to the Kasigau corridor project for its first six year monitoring period. Developed by NGO Wildlife Works in an area of semi-arid tropical forest in south east Kenya, the scheme is expected to reduce over six million metric tons of emissions during its 30-year project lifetime.

The project is the first to get voluntary carbon unit (VCU) credits under the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) forest-protection scheme, according to credit-issuing body the Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS).

David Antonioli, chief executive at the VCS, said the issuance represented a “watershed moment for REDD projects everywhere”, as it demonstrated that private investors are willing to fund reforestation and forest protection programmes in return for tradable carbon credits.

“This project is proof positive that REDD projects can engage communities in changing the economic incentives that drive deforestation,” Antonioli added. “Coupled with the ability to measure emissions reductions accurately and generate verified credits, this is exactly what is needed to attract private investment for forest protection.”

The VCU credits are not eligible for the UN’s primary offset programme, the Clean Development Mechanism, but can be used in the VCS voluntary market and in any future REDD market mechanism developed in the wake of the forestry agreement signed at the Cancun summit.

Projects using VCS criteria must meet strict standards to ensure that emissions credits are real and additional to what would have happened without the project activities.

Wildlife Works’ project, which included a new method of calculating emission reductions that had to be approved by the VCS programme, was validated and verified by an independent third party in the form of Norway-based risk management firm DNV.

“We’ve proved that the validation and verification of complex projects can be done in an efficient manner. I strongly believe this is a game changer in the market,” said Miguel Rescalvo, head of DNV’s climate change and environmental services in the Americas.