Welcome to the latest newsletter from
The Global Biodiversity Standard
The Global Biodiversity Standard (TGBS) has entered an exciting new phase. It is now officially registered as an independent not-for-profit entity, strengthening our governance and ability to scale biodiversity impact worldwide. This will open new opportunities to develop partnerships and methodologies that enhance biodiversity assessments and strengthen our collective capacity to deliver measurable outcomes for nature and people.
At the IUCN World Conservation Congress (WCC) in Abu Dhabi, Members adopted a landmark motion on “Improving Tree Planting Practices – Planting the Right Tree in the Right Place for the Right Purpose.” The motion explicitly recognises TGBS among leading international certification frameworks and calls for collaboration with the botanical and restoration communities — reflecting our approach to mentoring and outcome-based certification.
This edition also features the Spanish-language launch webinar of the TGBS Manual for Assessment and Best Practices, the upcoming Portuguese edition, and the first REDD+ project certified under TGBS in India’s Khasi Hills. We are also delighted to welcome SER Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioners (CERPs) as independent verifiers and mentors within TGBS.
As TGBS grows into its new phase, we invite IUCN Members, governments, and restoration partners to connect with us to explore how TGBS certification and mentoring can help align restoration and tree-planting programmes with the latest global commitments to biodiversity integrity.
Dr David Bartholomew
The Global Biodiversity Standard Manager
IUCN Adopts Motion To Improve
Tree Planting Practices
At the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi, Members adopted a landmark motion on “Improving Tree Planting Practices – Planting the Right Tree in the Right Place for the Right Purpose.” The resolution responds to global concern over large-scale, monoculture tree-planting schemes that can harm biodiversity and ecosystem integrity. It calls for the use of native and genetically diverse species, protection of natural forests, and clear distinction between plantations and natural ecosystems.
The motion explicitly recognises The Global Biodiversity Standard (TGBS) among leading international initiatives, urging the use of scientifically robust and recognised certification schemes that demonstrate co-benefits for biodiversity, climate, and livelihoods. This endorsement reinforces the growing importance of outcome-based biodiversity verification as part of global restoration and nature-based solutions efforts.
It also calls for collaboration with the botanical and restoration communities to enhance biodiversity outcomes through mentoring, knowledge exchange, and local capacity-building. As a standard developed with these communities, TGBS is well positioned to support IUCN Members — including governments, NGOs, and institutions — in aligning their restoration and tree-planting programmes with this motion. Members are encouraged to reach out to the TGBS Secretariat to explore how certification and mentoring can help ensure their initiatives deliver measurable, high-integrity biodiversity outcomes.
India’s First TGBS-Certified Site Achieves Advanced Tier, A Landmark In Community-led Forest Restoration
The Lum Jong u Mong Community Protected Forest and the Sacred Grove of Laitkynsew in Meghalaya has become the first site in India, and across Asia, to be certified under The Global Biodiversity Standard (TGBS), achieving the Advanced Certification Tier. The site reflects remarkable performance in ecosystem recovery, community stewardship, and long-term conservation planning.
Located along a 45-hectare mountain ridge in the Khasi Hills, the site is managed by the Ka Synjuk Ki Hima Arliang Wah Umiam, Mawphlang Welfare Society (SYNJUK). The site is part of the larger Khasi Hills Community REDD+ Project, a pioneering community-based REDD+ initiative spanning 27,000 hectares and working with 86 community groups to protect sacred groves, watersheds, and restore degraded land. It is a certified Plan Vivo Climate project, benefiting from carbon certificates for avoided deforestation and assisted natural regeneration.
The TGBS assessment evaluates improvement in biodiversity and ecosystem integrity from a defined baseline, in this case 2017, to the current year. Previously, the site faced major pressures from wildfires, firewood extraction, and over-grazing, leaving only scattered pockets of low-diversity native vegetation. Today, it is formally protected as a Law Adong – Sacred Grove and a Community Protected Forest.
The certification process was conducted in two phases. An initial pilot visit in 2024 tested compatibility of the project with TGBS. Rapid field and stakeholder surveys were conducted, offering early indications of recovery and community engagement. Following the project’s formal interest in certification, a comprehensive assessment took place in March 2025. This included detailed social surveys and community interviews, ecological fieldwork to evaluate flora and fauna, comparative analysis with intact reference ecosystems, surveys of degraded zones to establish baseline conditions, and a remote sensing analysis.
The site performed exceptionally across the eight biodiversity criteria of TGBS, achieving the maximum score for level of protection, stakeholder engagement, and control of invasive species. The site also performed well across the remaining criteria and scores are expected to rise further as assisted natural regeneration continues and species diversity increases. Crucially, the reporting systems already in place under the REDD+ programme supported the TGBS assessment, particularly in meeting the standards for stakeholder engagement and monitoring, evaluation and adaptive management. This highlights a strong compatibility between carbon and biodiversity standards when well designed and locally implemented.
Kiran Baldwin, Lead Assessor and coordinator of the TGBS-India Hub, commented:
“This site is an inspiring example of how ecological restoration can be strengthened with cultural and spiritual values. Natural recovery is well underway, aided by nearby intact forests, but there is potential to accelerate outcomes by introducing a greater diversity of native species based on the reference ecosystem. Expanding long-term monitoring of flora and fauna is key to tracking progress. The site’s ecological connectivity is also an opportunity for landscape-level restoration and corridor creation.”
“This is the first Plan Vivo Carbon project to receive the TGBS certification. This great achievement for the inspirational project, demonstrates the importance of integrating restoration efforts into REDD+ initiatives. The accreditation showcases how the project supports a vast range of biodiversity, and cultural heritage, in addition to the climate benefits. It also strengthens the credibility of nature-based carbon projects with robust biodiversity safeguards such as TGBS.”- Dr Toral Shah, Biodiversity Coordinator, Plan Vivo Foundation.
“The success at Lum Jong u Mong should inspire carbon project developers and funders to integrate robust biodiversity certification into their work. Poorly designed carbon projects can inadvertently harm biodiversity through inappropriate species selection, monocultures, or neglect of local ecosystems. TGBS provides a rigorous outcome-based assessment that ensures projects truly protect, enhance, and restore biodiversity. We hope this modular addition will help create a market where verified biodiversity outcomes are valued and rewarded with better pricing. We congratulate the SYNJUK community and Plan Vivo Foundation for showing how this can be achieved in practice.” – Dr David Bartholomew, Manager, The Global Biodiversity Standard
TGBS publishes its manual in
Spanish and Portuguese
The TGBS Manual for assessment and best practices is now available in Spanish and Portuguese.
On August 26th and October 30th our Hubs in Latin America and Brazil, delivered webinars to launch the new Spanish and Portuguese versions, respectively. These webinar, organized by the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) in collaboration with Botanic Gardens Conservation International, introduced the publication, in the respective languages, and presented the key elements of TGBS such as the field assessments, the use of remote sensing and the methodologies.
Strengthening Collaboration With SER CERPs
TGBS is pleased to strengthen its ongoing collaboration with the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) by formally integrating Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioners (CERPs) and CERPs-in-Training (CERPITs) into the TGBS assessment and mentoring programmes. CERPs will now serve as independent third-party verifiers, ensuring biodiversity certification is implemented to the highest international standards. They are also invited to join the TGBS Mentoring Directory, supporting projects to align with the TGBS framework and enhance biodiversity outcomes. This partnership deepens cooperation between the restoration communities, advancing credible, outcome-based approaches to ecological restoration.
TGBS Featured at Major International Conservation and Restoration Congresses
TGBS has featured widely across leading international conservation, ecological restoration and agroforestry congresses in recent months.
At the 11th World Conference on Ecological Restoration (#SER2025) in Denver, USA, TGBS was featured in several oral presentations and an interactive workshop showcasing its methodology, case studies and mentoring programme. We thank the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) for organizing and successfully running such an inspiring conference, and the other partners and hubs (Botanic Gardens Conservation International, Ecosia, Centre for Ecosystem Restoration – Kenya, Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Gardens, Auroville Botanical Gardens) who supported and promoted TGBS at the conference.
At the World Agroforestry Congress in Kigali, Rwanda, attended by CIFOR-ICRAF and Tooro Botanical Gardens, TGBS showcased the first mentoring programme, demonstrating how technical guidance can support agroforestry projects to improve biodiversity outcomes.
During the Africa Climate Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, TGBS was presented in a session focused on ensuring biodiversity integrity in land-based carbon projects. The event highlighted the Standard’s role in bridging biodiversity and climate objectives, helping to guide high-integrity investments in nature.
At the AETFAT Congress in Accra, Ghana, TGBS was represented through BGCI’s work to strengthen collaboration among African botanic gardens. The event provided an opportunity to explore how botanic gardens can lead biodiversity monitoring and restoration assessment through the TGBS framework (read the BGCI news about this event).
At EUROGARD10, hosted by the Italian Botanic Society with BGCI and the Botanic Garden of Rome at the FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy, TGBS emphasized the important role of botanic gardens in assessing and mentoring restoration projects, and supporting and leading restoration efforts. The congress placed ecological restoration at the core of botanic garden missions and expanded TGBS engagement across Europe.
At the 4th International Conference on Mountain Futures in Kunming, China, BGCI China’s Wen Xiangying presented “The Global Biodiversity Standard: Enhancing Biodiversity Outcomes in Ecosystem Restoration”. Her presentation garnered strong interest from UN agencies, research institutions and mountain communities, sparking lively discussions on biodiversity-focused restoration.
TGBS Science News
The Agroforestry Species Switchboard, a global resource to explore information for 107,269 plant species
The Agroforestry Species Switchboard is a comprehensive vascular plant database that guides users to information for a particular taxon from a global but fragmented set of resources. Via standardized species names, a user can rapidly determine which among the 59 contributing databases contain information for a species of interest, and understand how this information can be accessed. By providing taxonomic identifiers to World Flora Online, it is straightforward to check for changes in taxonomy. Among the 59 databases referenced, ten covered over 10,000 species, 20 between 1,000 and 10,000 species, and 22 between 100 and 1,000 species. The top ten plant families for species richness across covered databases were the Fabaceae (9,537 species), Asteraceae (6,041), Rubiaceae (4,812), Poaceae (3,947), Myrtaceae (3,544), Euphorbiaceae (2,689), Malvaceae (2,478), Rosaceae (2,374), Lauraceae (2,334) and Lamiaceae (2,107). Information included in the Switchboard distinguishes 54,812 tree-like species, covering most known tree species globally. The top 10 families for species richness considering tree-like species only were (in descending order) the Fabaceae (5,061 species), Rubiaceae (3,954), Myrtaceae (3,353), Lauraceae (2,304), Euphorbiaceae (1,823), Malvaceae (1,692), Melastomataceae (1,552), Annonaceae (1,481), Arecaceae (1,332) and Sapotaceae (1,109).
Among its applications, the Switchboard can assist species selection for ecological restoration projects to synergize biodiversity and human well-being objectives. The Switchboard has been integrated in the GlobalUsefulNativeTrees database (https://patspo.shinyapps.io/GlobalUsefulTrees/; see Kindt et al. 2023) and the EcoregionsTreeFinder (https://patspo.shinyapps.io/EcoregionsTreeFinder/ ; see Kindt & Pedercini 2025), two interactive web-based databases that were also developed to assist mentoring activities for The Global Biodiversity Standard. The Switchboard can be accessed under a creative commons license from Zenodo: https://zenodo.org/records/14991887.
Check this open-access article to learn more about the Switchboard: Kindt, R., Siddique, I., Dawson, I. et al. The Agroforestry Species Switchboard, a global resource to explore information for 107,269 plant species. Sci Data 12, 1150 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-05492-w
TGBS IN The News!
- The Global Biodiversity Standard achieves milestone with first certification in India, Ecological Restoration Alliance – India newsletter
