Indian Agroforestry Project Supporting Thousands of Tribal Farmers Receives High-Integrity ‘A’ Rating

Indian Agroforestry Project Supporting Thousands of Tribal Farmers Receives High-Integrity ‘A’ Rating

17th September 2026

Restoring underutilized land into productive agroforestry systems at scale, while ensuring it works for both farming communities and the ecosystems around them - is one of the central challenges in nature-based carbon removal today. In central India, an agroforestry project, Swiftgreen, developed under VM0047, is offering a compelling model for how that can be done. Spanning five states and working directly with tribal farming communities, the project is designed to enhance the socio-economic well-being of tribal and smallholder farmers while improving ecological stability and land productivity.

Developed by India-based climate company Equilibrium and backed by Australia’s largest environmental projects developer, GreenCollar, the ‘Swiftgreen’ project was awarded a pre-issuance ‘A’ rating on 6th August by independent international carbon data and rating platform, Sylvera. 

Sylvera's ratings assess how closely a project's claimed carbon impact matches its real-world impact, helping buyers compare credits across different standards and methodologies. A pre-issuance ‘A’ rating indicates the project is high integrity and has a likelihood to scale. Equilibrium received a Sylvera ‘A’ rating for an Afforestation, Reforestation and Revegetation project, and Swiftgreen is now its second A-rated project.

The Swiftgreen project brings together Equilibrium’s on-ground restoration and tech capabilities with early-stage investment and environmental markets experience from GreenCollar.

Agroforestry integrates trees and shrubs into farming landscapes, helping the tribal farmers in the project areas to improve the productivity and resilience of their land while creating environmental and economic benefits.  

In the states of Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra, the Swiftgreen project goes beyond carbon. It uses at least 6 different native and mixed use species of trees and bamboo to transform unused and underutilized land into productive and biologically diverse agroforestry systems. The planting interventions are designed to improve soil health, and improve fodder availability for livestock and generate long-term livelihood opportunities for farming households while promoting environmental sustainability and climate resilience. Participating farmers retain full ownership of everything grown on their land, with intercrop, fruit, bamboo and timber plantations designed to generate income over time. The project further supports alternative livelihoods such as sewing, poultry and goat rearing.

Two IUCN-listed species serve as ecological benchmarks for these restoration efforts: Safed Musli, a critically endangered medicinal herb that is being cultivated to reduce pressure on declining wild populations, and the Green Munia, a vulnerable native bird whose habitat is being enhanced through the establishment of dense native bamboo plantations. 

The project uses Equilibrium’s GeoAI dMRV system which combines field data, GIS and remote sensing to track farmers, plots and planting events. The system cross-validates multiple remote-sensing streams, soil & vegetation data as decision filters. This combines geospatial analysis with GPS-verified checks on the ground, reducing uncertainty in the carbon accounting framework. This digital infrastructure was purpose-built by Equilibrium to ensure that every farmer, plot and planting event is verified, geo-referenced and audit-ready.

Swiftgreen is expected to involve 18,000 farmers and plant 11.8 million trees across 20,000ha to generate approximately 7.1 Mt CO₂e of Verified Carbon Unit (VCU) removal credits. Farmers benefit from increased income from the agroforestry plots and will receive a percentage of the net carbon credit revenue generated by the project. The ambition is to demonstrate how high-integrity restoration can be delivered at scale across smallholder landscapes and tribal communities, and create a model that can be replicated in the global South.

Sylvera Ratings are statements of opinion and not statements of fact, investment or financial advice, endorsements or recommendations to take or not take a particular action. Sylvera expressly disclaims all warranties and liability. Refer to the Ratings Disclaimer at www.sylvera.com for more information.

Link to the media release: https://greencollar.com.au/indian-agroforestry-project-supporting-thousands-of-tribal-farmers-receives-high-integrity-a-rating/

About Equilibrium

Founded in 2023, Equilibrium is a full-stack climate infrastructure company developing large-scale carbon removal projects across the Global South. Its portfolio spans projects across nature-based solutions, including agroforestry and mangrove restoration, and engineered removal through biochar. These projects restore underutilized land while creating resilient rural value chains and long-term income opportunities for smallholder farmers and local communities in India. Equilibrium received an 'A' rating from Sylvera for an Afforestation, Reforestation and Revegetation project, a distinction it has now earned twice. Equilibrium combines on-ground execution with technology-led monitoring and verification, bringing its projects to institutional standards of scale and credibility.

About GreenCollar

GreenCollar was founded in 2011 as a conservation-driven profit-for-purpose organisation, and is one of the leading environmental markets project developers and investors in Australia across the carbon, water quality, biodiversity and plastics markets. GreenCollar works with landowners and managers throughout Australia to develop projects that create commercial opportunities by generating environmental credits through nature-based solutions for caring for the environment. GreenCollar’s management team was fundamental in helping to establish Australia’s carbon market framework, as well as Queensland’s Reef Credit Scheme and the NaturePlus biodiversity scheme. GreenCollar is widely recognised as thought leaders in the carbon and biodiversity markets industry.