Appendix A: Biodiversity methodologies comparison table
The WWF has identified 867 terrestrial ecorregions on earth’s land alone, although the exact number of total existing species is still unknown currently 1.7 million species have been identified (Convention on biological biodiversity, n.d.; Mora et al., 2011; W W F, n.d.). As markets emerge to protect them, there will likely be several biodiversity standards needed to properly value proper possession of this planetary abundance. Table 5 shows emerging standards, including standards from other certifying bodies in the context of the ISBD at the time it was originally written (July 2023).
More comprehensive reports have emerged in the interim, including this comparison table by Simon Gradeckas at Bloom Labs, and more will likely certainly be added.
To our knowledge, we remain the sole IP and LC crediting methodology globally but we are hopeful this will change as more developers seen the need for, and benefits of, IP and LC inclusion in both science and biodiversity projects.
Table 7. Emerging standards (certifying bodies in the context of the ISBD).
Methodology | Plan Vivo (Replanet, Wallacea) | Cercarbono (Savimbo) | ||||
Scope | Boreal forests | Global | Global | Global | Global | Global |
Crediting factors | Inventories (species richness, population size, remote sensing) | Habitat | 1% Δ metrics (5+ inc. targets, habitat, and ecosystem) | Unavailable | Umbrella species | Indicator species |
Activities | Conservation, restoration and improved forest management | Conservation, Restoration, Management | Conservation, Restoration, Management | Unavailable | Conservation | Conservation |
Certified | No | No | In pipeline | In pipeline | No | In pipeline |
Unit | Land (ha) | Land (10m2) | Land (ha) | Unavailable | Land (ha) | Land (ha) |
Incorporates traditional knowledge | No | No | No | Unavailable | No | Yes |
Land tenure | Unavailable | Ownership | Ownership, Stewardship | Unavailable | Ownership, Stewardship | Ownership, Stewardship |
Crediting period/ issued | 20 yrs, ha/yrs | 20 yrs/Milestones | 10-50 yrs/XXX | Unavailable | Every 5 yrs/unlimited renewal | 2 months/Annually |
Ecosystem classification | Unavailable | IUCN | Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World (TEOW) classification | Unavailable | IUCN | IUCN, CI biodiversity hotspots, UN-FAO LCCS, Holdridge |
Issues | BC | VBC | VBC | Unavailable | XXX | VBC |
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