A standard for verifying biodiversity certificates, said to be the first of its kind, has been launched by certifier Plan Vivo with the addition of a new habitat metric.
Conservation projects can now apply to use the PV Nature standard for generating tradable biodiversity certificates, with payments in return for units representing support for nature, the Edinburgh-based organisation said.
“It is the first operational global high-integrity biodiversity standard, providing an instrument to channel finance to communities for nature, climate and people impacts,” Plan Vivo CEO Keith Bohannon said during a webinar.
The PV Nature standard, produced in collaboration with British analytics startup Pivotal, follows two years of development to produce a methodology for units that target nature positive action, rather than offsets.
The main change to the methodology since the last consultation was the addition of metric to track habitat health, Bohannon told Carbon Pulse.
“This means there will be two habitat metrics, one to track habitat structure and the other to track habitat extent and connectivity,” Bohannon said.
“Overall there are five pillar metrics – three species-based and two habitat-based – used in the overall calculation of change.”
The methodology can be applied to restoration and conservation projects, for terrestrial and marine environments.
“We recognise that the habitat metrics for specific marine habitats require variation due to their complexities and, therefore, will be working closely with a set of marine projects in the coming months to refine the approach for marine ecosystems,” Bohannon said.
The market has been closely watching the development of methodologies for biodiversity certificates or credits, from entities such as carbon standard setter Verra, as they could enable the foundations of a tradable nature market. Verra’s nature credits framework is due to be published next year.
THE UNIT
One unit of a PV Nature biodiversity certificate from a restoration project represents a 1% gain in biodiversity per hectare per year, Toral Shah, biodiversity coordinator at Plan Vivo, said.
On the other hand, conservation projects generate a set number of certificates per hectare if they conserve 100% of their baseline level of biodiversity, Shah said.
“The principles include measuring change in broad species groups such as birds, fish, and plants, in combination with habitat data that tells us about the land use and the ecosystem quality,” she said.
Projects can collect the data annually using digital recorders such as cameras and microphones for analysis by machine learning and humans to indicate general trends in ecosystem health, she explained.
The standard involves a group of bodies to verify each project including Plan Vivo, Pivotal as a third-party analytics partner, a technical review panel, and a third-party validation body.
The application process for each project is estimated to take between nine months and a year, with each demonstrating they offer additionality.
The documentation in the PV Nature standard release:
PILOTS UNDERWAY
Plan Vivo has been piloting its standard in projects around the world.
Bohannon said these include initiatives from:
- Blue Marine Foundation in the UK
- Forestry association URZE in Portugal
- Fauna and Flora in South Africa
- Ecotrust in Uganda
- Carbon Tanzania in Tanzania
- Wild Elephant Forest in Zimbabwe
For example, the UK project in the Solent waterway between England’s south coast and the Isle of Wight saw support for seagrass, bird nests, salt marshes, and oyster beds.
The Zimbabwe initiative over around 85,000 hectares boosted species diversity with ranger patrols, fire management, wildlife corridors, and agroforestry.
PRICING
Plan Vivo aims to launch pricing guidance for its biodiversity certificates within the first three months of 2024, Bohannon said.
Plan Vivo’s Shah said the PV Nature standard sets out how at least 60% of revenue earned should go to the community with “appropriate safeguards in place to mitigate any risks”.
“We have made sure that PV Nature holds true to the core values of Plan Vivo in term of community engagement, fair and equitable benefit sharing, and holistic impact,” Bohannon said.
Last week, World Economic Forum said demand for biodiversity credits could reach as much as $180 billion annually by 2050 if a radical transformation in valuing nature happens, though a more likely scenario would see demand at a more modest $69 bln by mid-century.
By Thomas Cox – t.cox@carbon-pulse.com
*** Click here to sign up to our twice-weekly biodiversity newsletter ***
