A Brazilian company has released a methodology and guidelines for issuing biodiversity stewardship tokens to projects that successfully protect and restore habitats for jaguars.

Ecosystem Regeneration Associates (ERA) published the methodology via Regen Network, a blockchain-based initiative that oversees the development of projects that can generate carbon and ecological credits, where it will be open to public comments until July 6.

The proposal is the latest addition to a rapidly populating ecosystem of nature and biodiversity-related credits, which includes last week’s inaugural purchase of European forest-based units and the launch of a UK-funded programme to develop biocredits from conservation projects in Uganda and Zambia.

ERA’s documents include a fundamental methodology for crediting projects that protect so-called umbrella species – large species requiring significant habitats that are often the focus of conservation efforts because it indirectly leads to the protection of other species as well – and specific guidelines for applying that methodology to jaguars in South America.

The company submitted the first draft of the methodology in June last year, and after a couple of revisions it now hopes it will be approved next month, and projects can begin applying for registration.

“The intent of this methodology is to create a mechanism that will significantly increase the number of protected hectares of habitat for a given umbrella species, providing a general framework to incentivise the monitoring and assessment of umbrella species health and ecosystem health in various biomes, so that land stewards can receive payment for ecosystem services for becoming stewards of an umbrella species occurring in the property area,” ERA stated.

A detailed framework is included for calculating and determining umbrella species health and ecosystem health, which will form part of the basis for issuing the biodiversity stewardship tokens.

Meanwhile, the specified jaguar guidelines include a set of indicators and goals for jaguar projects, focussed around property management – such as actions to reduce conflict and prevent fires – as well as social engagement and financial strategy.

“The methodology is intended to be a practice-based methodology … understanding that biodiversity stewardship is a complex and holistic endeavour, which can be deployed and fulfilled through a mix of indicators that make use of quantitative and qualitative data, using a holistically assessed and technology driven monitoring process,” ERA stated.

CREDITS AND CLAIMS

Under the methodology, projects that successfully register and produce third-party verified biodiversity outcomes will be issued the digital tokens by the Regen Network, either annually or every second year.

Tokens will be tradeable in the blockchain-based Regen Marketplace, which currently has over 20,000 wallet holders with access to units from 42 projects registered so far, primarily generating carbon credits.

Projects would be able to secure five-yearly crediting periods that can be renewed an indefinite number of times, according to ERA documents.

Once issued, buyers will not be able to use them for offsetting purposes.

“Biodiversity tokens, as per the guidelines of this methodology, are not credits, therefore, cannot be used as ‘compensation’ or ‘offsetting’ for environmental impacts, for legal/regulatory purposes or not,” the methodology stated.

“They do not, in any form, represent a biodiversity net gain in the property area or any kind of surplus.”

Buyers can use them to make biodiversity-related claims, however, such as investment in sustainable development goals 13 or 15, under voluntary frameworks such as the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures, or in annual sustainability reports.

Once such a claim is made, the tokens must immediately be retired from the Regen registry, or the registry operator will “burn” them.

Buyers don’t have to use the tokens for claims, however, but can choose to sell them on. In such cases they must sign a legally binding agreement with the project proponent at the time of purchase that they are just acting as a trader and will not use the tokens to make any biodiversity claims.

By Stian Reklev – stian@carbon-pulse.com

*** Click here to sign up to our weekly biodiversity newsletter ***