Different landscapes, shared principles: insights from carbon projects around the world

At first glance, carbon projects in the UK and those delivered internationally may seem to operate in very different contexts, and for many UK-based buyers, proximity may be a key factor in deciding which projects to support.

However, the reality is more nuanced. Differences in landscape, species, and climate can mean international projects offer distinct advantages, particularly in relation to delivery timeframes in the context of the long-term nature of carbon and the varying objectives organisations may have when determining which type of unit they are looking to buy.

To understand more about carbon delivery time frames, the difference between UK and international projects, or anything else related to the voluntary carbon market. Check out our Knowledge Base.

Carbon credits, offsetting and carbon markets

International carbon projects

And of course, climate is not just local, but connected across global ecosystems. What happens in one part of the world has far-reaching impacts across interconnected ecosystems, reinforcing the importance of supporting high-quality projects wherever they are based. Regardless of location, projects are working towards the same aim: supporting a healthy ecosystem and functioning landscape.

With this in mind, we wanted to explore both the similarities and differences between UK and international voluntary carbon markets, and more importantly, what underpins successful projects regardless of geography.

To do this, we spoke with Andrew Heald, co-founder of iNovaland. Drawing on a career spanning UK forestry and international project development, Andrew’s experience highlights something more fundamental: while the context may change, the principles of successful projects remain remarkably consistent.

A career shaped by different landscapes

Starting as a countryside ranger in North Wales, working across land owned by Welsh Water, Andrew began in a hands-on and practical setting. Managing large areas of land around reservoirs, including commercial spruce forests, he quickly found himself navigating the many moving parts that come with forest management.

That led to a role with Tilhill Forestry (then owned by UPM-Kymmene), where he spent over a decade building a foundation in forest management.

Without a formal forestry degree, Andrew joined as a trainee and worked his way up through traditional forest management roles. Exposure to wider management and international perspectives helped shape a career that would go on to span UK and international forestry.

Working on forests owned by UPM-Kymmene, he was introduced early on to ideas beyond timber production, including continuous cover forestry, biodiversity, recreation, and sustainability. Regular engagement with international teams, particularly from Finland, offered a comparison with how forestry in the UK sits alongside practice elsewhere in Europe.

After moving into a head office role in Scotland, leading certification and assurance systems including FSC and PEFC, Andrew joined UPM’s international sustainability team. Over five years, he worked across projects in Uruguay, Ghana, and Mozambique.

Through this period, Andrew was gaining first-hand insights into large-scale forestry in very different social, environmental, and political contexts. Despite the differences, many of the core challenges remained consistent: engaging local communities, balancing production with biodiversity, and delivering responsibly at scale.

It was at this time that Andrew met his now-business partner, Luis Neves Silva, who was running WWF's New Generation Plantations (NGP) initiative, working with some of the world’s largest forestry companies to improve standards and share best practices on how to do large-scale plantation forestry better.

From global experience to project delivery

After UPM, Andrew joined CONFOR while continuing consultancy work with WWF’s New Generation Plantations initiative. During this time, he also sat on advisory groups, including the Woodland Carbon Code, FSC International, and UK timber trade expert groups.

By 2019, a shift was underway. As organisations developed more in-house sustainability capacity, the role of external initiatives evolved. For Andrew and Luis, this raised a natural question: what comes next?

The answer was a move from advising on best practice to delivering it. This led to the creation of iNovaland, applying years of global experience directly to project development on the ground.

Building projects in practice: Ghana and Brazil

Set against the backdrop of Covid in 2020, iNovaland was founded at a moment of global uncertainty but also, as Andrew describes it, a moment of possibility.

Launching at the start of the pandemic, there was a sense that things could be done differently.

That mindset, combined with a rapidly evolving carbon market, led Andrew and his co-founders to shape iNovaland using years of experience and an extensive international network.

The first project in Ghana, supported by partners including AstraZeneca, focused on large-scale restoration combining forestry, agroforestry, and community engagement. In Brazil, the approach has been more distributed through supporting a pipeline of smaller projects and scaling those with the strongest potential.

While grouped under the same “carbon project” label, these examples highlight an important point: in practice, projects can vary significantly in structure and delivery approach. As we’ll hear later, communicating project narrative is really important in bringing projects to life and highlighting the local contexts they sit within.

UK and international projects: different systems, shared challenges

One of the clearest distinctions between UK and international projects lies in modelling and data availability.

In the UK, long-established datasets and tools, including those developed by Forest Research, underpin robust growth models and the carbon accounting frameworks used within the Woodland Carbon Code.

This provides a strong evidence base and a high level of confidence when forecasting long-term outcomes.

In international contexts, the approach is often different because projects are operating in environments that are more variable and, in many cases, less extensively studied at scale. Projects in regions such as Ghana may involve a wider mix of species, more variable site conditions, and fewer long-term datasets to draw from. As a result, modelling is typically more iterative - combining the best available data with ongoing measurement and refinement over time.

This can introduce greater uncertainty at the outset, but it also reflects a system grounded in continuous learning and adaptive management. In practice, assumptions are carefully managed to ensure credibility as projects develop.

Carbon markets are a mechanism

No carbon market standard will ever be perfect. But what matters is that frameworks exist to enable projects to be delivered today.

Standards continue to evolve, but they provide the structure needed to move projects from concept to reality. There is a clear need to act now in the context of a rapidly changing climate; waiting for perfection is not an option. Focus must remain on delivering positive outcomes while improving systems over time.

While carbon markets and sustainability frameworks continue to evolve, the fundamentals of project delivery remain grounded in the same principles that have always defined good forestry: planning, coordination, and execution.

However, this can create challenges where projects are long-term by nature, often spanning 40+ years, while the market environment continues to shift year on year.

This creates a natural tension between long-term delivery and short-term market dynamics; something both developers and buyers must navigate.

A useful way to frame this is to view carbon markets as a mechanism for projects to reach their goals. The goals are better landscapes, better ecosystems, and long-term resilience. A key theme across both UK and international projects is how carbon is framed. While carbon is often treated as a commodity, Andrew suggests a different lens:

Rather than simply generating units, projects provide long-term land management - supporting biodiversity, improving resilience, and enabling sustainable land use. This reframing can be important, particularly for organisations engaging with carbon for the first time. It moves the conversation away from abstract metrics and towards tangible, real-world impact.

Local context and community engagement

Across all geographies, one factor consistently determines success: community engagement.

Land use change is inherently sensitive. Whether in Scotland or Ghana, projects reshape how land is used over decades, and without local support, that change becomes difficult, if not impossible. Local context, sensitivities, and benefits must be clearly understood and communicated. Whether that is flood mitigation in UK catchments or livelihood benefits in international settings, the wider benefits of the project will be central to its success and local buy-in. When done well, communities become long-term partners in project success.

Communities must be brought into project work, whether through consultation or, often, particularly in the international context, with a more direct connection to on-the-ground delivery and ongoing management of projects. The importance of community holds true regardless of location.

Importance of trust

Across all of these aspects of differences and similarities, one factor consistently underpins success for any project: trust.

Regardless of where you are, or what type of project you are operating - for carbon, timber, biodiversity, whatever it may be - the principle remains the same: forestry is as much about people as it is about the trees: those delivering projects, those managing them, and those supporting them.

It’s a simple idea, but one that sits at the heart of both UK and international projects. Whether restoring degraded land or establishing new woodland, the real challenge lies not just in planting trees, but in navigating the social and economic dynamics that shape land use.

Carbon projects are long-term commitments. They require confidence from landowners, corporate buyers, and communities alike. That confidence is built not just on plans, but on delivery.

As Andrew notes in relation to Forest Carbon:

A key challenge in the sector is also communication and building up a project narrative to bring projects to life for those who haven’t had a chance to visit on the ground. Translating technical project details into something meaningful for those without forestry backgrounds, and bringing the story of projects to life in a way that builds understanding and confidence, is really important.

Ultimately:

Shared perspectives across geographies

While carbon projects may differ in geography, scale, and approach, the fundamentals remain the same.

• Good projects are built on strong land management
• Communities must be engaged early and meaningfully
• Standards provide structure, but are only part of the picture
• And long-term success depends on trust

As the market continues to evolve, these principles remain constant across both UK and international projects.

Interested in seeing iNovaland’s work on the ground? Their upcoming study tour provides the chance to see these projects in action!

For those looking to explore further, Forest Carbon’s project map provides a way to explore both UK and international projects - with filters to help you navigate by location and project type, from woodland creation to peatland restoration.