US-headquartered infrastructure consulting firm AECOM has launched a forest restoration project in Indonesia, with plans to pilot nature credits, Carbon Pulse has learned.
The company teamed up with Napital Group, a Hong Kong-based company specialising in advanced sustainability and ESG solutions, to restore 100 hectares of degraded hillside into a high-performance forest habitat on a 400-ha area on Bintan Island, in Indonesia’s Riau Archipelago.
AECOM is in the process of developing a methodology for restoring forestland while progressing discussions to identify third-party verification bodies, said the firm’s nature-based solutions and biodiversity specialist in Asia, Ash Welch.
“Natural capital will be represented by five key performance data, including biodiversity, carbon sequestration, air quality, soil quality, and water quality,” he told Carbon Pulse.
“We will be measuring ecosystem condition in addition to other ecosystem services to provide certainty around holistic ecosystem restoration.”
Under the initiative, AECOM will leverage digital tools to monitor nature gains – including drones, camera traps, audio monitors, and environmental DNA (eDNA) – as well as blockchain technology for data integrity, Welch said.
“[Our aim is] to undertake baseline data and then start to piece together how the data can be used to track restoration performance while exploring options for unitising nature uplift,” he added.
“The purpose of the pilot is to showcase how this can all work, with a look to then scale up.”
THE BIODIVERSITY ASSESSMENT METRIC
AECOM will also use a metric for biodiversity assessment that it launched last year to help calculate the impact on nature of site developments in Singapore.
While the first version of the metric was developed specifically for use in the city state, the company plans to expand the tool to all habitats across Southeast Asia.
Influenced by Natural England’s Biodiversity Metric, which is used to calculate biodiversity net gain, AECOM’s Singapore Biodiversity Accounting Metric is primarily intended for infrastructure and other physical projects, though it can also be applied to market mechanisms.
As well, Welch said the Bintan project will build on the Natural Capital Laboratory (NCL) initiative, set up in 2019 by AECOM to restore 40 ha of ancient Caledonian forest and reintroduce lost species.
Under the NCL project, AECOM combined artificial intelligence, drone technology, Earth observation, geographic information system (GIS), and thermal imaging to monitor progress, with collected data stored on an online accounting platform.
“We are exploring options to utilise a digital twin for each project site to allow people to explore the sites and restoration in an interactive way,” said Welch.
GAINING TRACTION
As biodiversity gains traction in private sector agendas due to the uptake of nature-related disclosures, market mechanisms could play an increasingly central role in corporate strategies, according to AECOM.
“A holistic portfolio of natural capital, including biodiversity and carbon, could unlock vital financial incentives through ESG ratings, green finance opportunities, and preparation for future credit systems,” said the company.
In February, AECOM released a statement backing the goals of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) and committing to helping clients achieve nature positive outcomes.
In the statement, the company pledged to support its clients in aligning with the mitigation hierarchy to aim to avoid damage to biodiversity, then minimise and restore, before compensating or offsetting.
It also said it would aid clients in achieving nature positive outcomes in developing and implementing their projects.
AECOM was one of 320 companies that last year signed up to become early adopters of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) reporting framework.
By Sergio Colombo – sergio@carbon-pulse.com
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