Land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) projects focus on natural carbon sinks such as forests and soil. There are a number of different types of LULUCF projects:

Avoided deforestation is the protection of existing forests. Deforestation, particularly in Brazil, Indonesia and parts of Africa, account for about 20% of greenhouse gas emissions. Deforestation can be avoided either by paying directly for forest preservation, or by using offset funds to provide substitutes for forest-based products. For example, almost half of the world's people burn wood (or fiber or dung) for their cooking and heating needs. Fuel-efficient cook stoves can reduce fuel wood consumption by 30 to 50%, though the warming of the earth due to decreases in particulate matter (i.e. smoke) from such fuel-efficient stoves has not been addressed.

Reforestation is the process of restoring forests on land that was once forested. The term "reforestation" is sometimes applied to monoculture tree farming as well as the recreation of natural forests.

Afforestation is the process of creating forests on land that was previously unforested,

Soil management projects attempt to preserve or increase the amount of carbon sequestered in soil.

Reforestation and afforestation are both examples of treeplanting projects. While some experts dislike tree planting projects, most climate scientists agree that deforestation is responsible for about 25% of global climate change, making reforestation and avoided deforestation critical parts of the solution to climate change. Organizations such as the UNFCCC's Clean Development Mechanism, the Voluntary Carbon Standard, Climate Community and Biodiversity Alliance, Environmental Resources Trust, and Green-e Climate all certify carbon reductions from land use projects.

In July, 2007, Vatican City accepted an offer that will make it the only carbon neutral state for the year, due to the donation of the Vatican Climate Forest in Hungary. The forest is to be sized to offset the year's carbon dioxide emissions.