ART TREES: Jurisdictional REDD+ Standard

Updated 2026-11-02 · 4 min read · By the akar.earth specialist team

ART TREES explained: the jurisdictional REDD+ standard, TREES 3.0, the ART Registry, FCPF transition and what it means for Indonesian provinces.

ART TREES is the jurisdictional REDD+ standard run by the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART): it issues serialised TREES credits, each one tonne of CO2e, for emission reductions and removals achieved across a whole national or subnational jurisdiction. In Indonesia it matters to provinces and to the national government, not to individual concession holders, because only sovereign programs can issue.

What ART TREES is

TREES stands for The REDD+ Environmental Excellence Standard. ART runs the standard, the validation and verification rules, and the ART Registry, which records issuance, transfer, retirement and cancellation of TREES credits with serial numbers to prevent double counting.

Key facts from ART’s own publications:

• TREES 3.0 was released on 25 June 2026, building on four years of experience across 26 participating programs, including the first jurisdictional REDD+ collaboration led by Indigenous peoples and local communities.
• The TREES 3.0 consultation drew more than 30 submissions and nearly 700 comments, published with a Statement of Reasons.
• ART says nearly 25% of the world’s tropical forests, over 400 million hectares, sit in programs listed on its registry.
• New validations and verifications must use version 3.0 of the TREES Validation and Verification Standard (TVVS); those started before August 2026 may continue under the previous version.

Who uses it

Opening a registry profile takes a Designated Signatory with authority to bind the organisation. ART says approval typically takes one to two weeks once documents are complete.

Key requirements

TREES sets requirements at jurisdiction scale. In outline:

• Crediting level. A jurisdiction-wide reference level built from historical emissions data. TREES 2.0 also offered a separate high-forest, low-deforestation approach; see ART TREES HFLD.
• Monitoring, reporting and verification of forest cover change and emissions across the full jurisdiction, verified by an ART-approved VVB.
• Uncertainty, leakage and reversal deductions, including a buffer contribution.
• Cancún safeguards, reported and verified, including respect for the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities.
• Avoiding double counting, with registry serialisation and, where credits are used for Article 6 or CORSIA, host-country authorisation.

Version 3.0 changed several of these elements. Read the TREES 3.0 document directly before planning a submission rather than relying on summaries of TREES 2.0.

FCPF and ISFL transition

ART supports reissuance of World Bank FCPF and ISFL credits. Countries cancel them in the World Bank’s Carbon Assets Tracking System (CATS) and reissue them on the ART Registry for transactions. TREES 3.0 adds a time-bound transition pathway, developed with the World Bank, to give FCPF and ISFL jurisdictions continued carbon finance through ART after World Bank funds end.

This is directly relevant to Indonesia. East Kalimantan ran an FCPF Carbon Fund emission reductions program, and Jambi has been part of the ISFL. Check with ART and the national focal point which pathway, if any, these provinces are pursuing.

How it applies in Indonesia and Southeast Asia

Indonesia’s legal framework controls whether, and how, a province can sell jurisdictional credits. Perpres 110/2025 is the current anchor for carbon trading, and Indonesia’s FOLU Net Sink 2030 target means the government must weigh credit sales against its NDC. Any internationally transferred units would need corresponding adjustments.

For project developers, jurisdictional programs change the baseline story. Even under Verra, new REDD+ projects use VM0048 with baselines allocated from jurisdictional data. Our guide on nesting projects in jurisdictions explains how project and jurisdictional accounting interact, and our Indonesia regulatory navigation service tracks the approvals involved.

Common pitfalls

• Assuming a company can register a program. Only sovereign entities can.
• Mixing up TREES versions. TREES 2.0 and 3.0 rules co-exist during transition.
• Ignoring national approval. Provincial programs need alignment with national REDD+ architecture and NDC accounting.
• Treating all TREES credits as CCP-labelled. Labels depend on the crediting level used.

Relationship to ICVCM CCP status

ICVCM lists ART TREES as CCP-Eligible. In a later batch it found that the TREES 2.0 HFLD crediting level and removals crediting level need remedial actions. ICVCM noted that 58.4 million HFLD credits had been issued and none are eligible for CCP labels. Read the CCP label page for how labels are applied.

Next steps

Compare ART TREES vs VCS JNR, read project vs jurisdictional REDD+, or return to the standards hub and the REDD+ hub.