This crediting protocol guides landholders to become biodiversity stewards by applying interventions (project activities)that generate positive outcomes for the selected Umbrella Species and ecosystem under management. Landholders must evaluate and monitor umbrella species health, habitat quality and understand the local challenges and disturbances to establish a set of interventions that will be applied over the lifetime of the project. These interventions are established using the Theory of Change framework whereby the long-term goals are defined, as well as the desired outcomes, the interventions and the indicators.
To apply this crediting protocol to a biodiversity conservation project, it is necessary to submit evidence of the presence of the chosen Umbrella Species in the Property Area, through monitoring methods such as camera traps, footprints, bioacoustics, eDNA, etc. Data and evidence must be collected and exhibited in the Monitoring Reports along with the adoption and implementation of the project interventions. The price of the credit is defined by the cost of conservation, meaning the annual costs of the interventions adopted. These costs must be transparently reported in the Monitoring Reports. TheseMonitoring Reports will be verified by an external auditor to ensure all procedures have been followed in accordance with the standards.
This Methodology is not applicable to aquatic ecosystems.