2025 in review: From first credit sale to a new carbon project registration

The year 2025 has passed quickly, yet the beginning of the year feels distant, given how much has happened. This time serves as a valuable pause for reflection and to thank every landowner, partner, investor and buyer who has shared this journey with us.

As we look back, one thing is clear: European forest carbon is no longer a theory — it is a tangible, valuable reality that we have helped prove.

Completing the full circle with the ARR project

The year began with a significant milestone: the sale of the first Verra-certified afforestation credits from our pan-European ARR (Afforestation, Reforestation and Revegetation) project to Rubicon Carbon. This transaction immediately translated the promise of carbon revenue, which until then only existed on paper, into actual, realised income for the landowners involved.

The first of the sold credits were retired by Gitlab later in the year. For us, this marked the first complete cycle within the project, from planting the trees to credit retirement, and it was a proud moment to see that all the work we’ve invested over the years has come together.  

We have now completed the audit and submitted all documentation to Verra for the next issuance cycle, covering the 2023 and 2024 vintages, and are currently awaiting issuance.  

IFM project registration requested

Much of the focus this year was on our new IFM (Improved Forest Management) project registration. The work required to reach that stage was intensive and involved extensive fieldwork and auditing during spring and summer.

The international audit process was comprehensive. Our team visited all countries involved — Estonia, Latvia, Sweden and Finland — to carry out monitoring showcases demonstrating how forest inventories are performed. Together with our certified foresters, we introduced the auditors to the forestry characteristics in each country and held stakeholder meetings with landowners and forestry associations.  

We are proud to finish the year with all documents submitted to Verra, having officially requested project registration from the standard now. While Verra’s review naturally takes time, we are internally already preparing to undertake the verification of IFM credits in 2026.

Exploration and regional work across Europe

Much of our work this year focused on understanding regional realities and discussing with landowners how carbon income can fit into long-term management decisions.  

Understanding cork oak landscapes

In May, we visited Corticeira Amorim in Portugal to learn more about the situation facing cork oak forests today. Many stands are ageing, and landowners often face economic pressure to shift toward faster-growing species such as eucalyptus. Yet there is strong interest in maintaining cork oak, which carries cultural, ecological and economic importance across the region.

Today, around 1,000 hectares of cork oak are part of our ARR project. Some plots focus on densification, others on replanting native cork oak. These landscapes are naturally resilient to drought and fire, making them one of the most stable Mediterranean forest types.

Cork harvesting offers an additional climate benefit. Only the bark is removed, and regular harvesting stimulates the trees to absorb more carbon — typically three to five times more than unharvested trees. A single cork oak can be harvested 12 to 15 times in its lifetime, substantially increasing its total carbon uptake.

Deepening our work in the Nordics

We also made steady progress in Sweden and Finland, two countries where forestry is a core part of rural economies and land use. Throughout the year, interest in the IFM project continued to grow, and many landowners reached out to understand how carbon income could sit alongside timber revenue rather than replace it.

To support this momentum, we expanded our team with dedicated Country Managers experienced in forestry. Later in the year, we also formalised collaborations with Forcap and Henrik Söderberg Förvaltning AB in Sweden, and with the Päijät-Häme Forest Management Association in Finland. Working with trusted local forest managers ensures landowners receive advice from people they already know, while still accessing the broader carbon project framework and market opportunities through Ecobase.

A growing landowner community

All the work behind registration, auditing or expansion would mean little without the people who make these projects possible: the landowners and the land they bring into the project. This ultimately determines the scale, credibility and long-term climate impact of the project, because real results depend on committed landowners and sustainably managed forests.

For us, the most meaningful achievement this year has been the growing number of landowners who chose to participate, especially those joining the new IFM project. No matter how detailed the methodology or how rigorous the verification, a carbon project in Europe begins and ends with a landowner’s decision to take part.

We are grateful to those who have been with us from the beginning, and we warmly welcome everyone who joined Ecobase in 2025.

Looking toward 2026

As we move into 2026, our focus remains steady: supporting landowners in treating carbon as a meaningful part of forest value. For many, carbon income now sits alongside timber as an additional tool for managing risk, planning rotation cycles and maintaining ecological balance across their forest areas.

For credit buyers, European forest projects continue to offer something distinct: verified climate impact paired with local environmental benefits, rural livelihoods and long-term forest stewardship — all within the same region where many supply chains and operations are based.

The year ahead will bring new monitoring work, additional verification rounds and more landowners joining the projects. We look forward to continuing this collaboration and supporting forests that remain productive, resilient and climate-positive for the long term.

From all of us at Ecobase, thank you for your trust and cooperation throughout the year. We wish you a peaceful end to 2025 and a good start to the year ahead.