What does The Global Biodiversity Standard certify?

The Global Biodiversity Standard (TGBS) is a site-based certification scheme. Sites that have achieved an increase in biodiversity relative to their initial conditions will be certified, provided they achieve a sufficiently high score against the eight criteria of the framework. The Global Biodiversity Standard does not certify organisations or trade activities.

How was The Global Biodiversity Standard developed?

The technical criteria for The Global Biodiversity Standard and the methodology for carrying out the assessment and certification process were developed over three years beginning in 2022. This included an iterative testing process across more than 100 sites, technical consultations with over 60 subject matter experts, and a public consultation. The development of The Global Biodiversity Standard is funded by a Darwin Initiative Extra grant from the United Kingdom Government.

Who are the intended users of The Global Biodiversity Standard?

The Global Biodiversity Standard is designed to provide recognition and assurance about positive impacts on biodiversity to a wide range of users. Many types of land management initiatives can be certified under The Global Biodiversity Standard, including protected areas, ecological restoration sites, rehabilitative agriculture (e.g., agroforestry) projects, and tree plantations. The Global Biodiversity Standard can be used by practitioners to help them gain recognition, which may facilitate access to finance for their activities. Financiers and governments supporting nature-based solutions can also use The Global Biodiversity Standard to provide assurance that they are supporting projects that achieve positive impacts on biodiversity relevant to the site’s ecosystem type and local conditions.

Is there a manual that describes the assessment methodology?

The Global Biodiversity Standard: Manual for assessment and best practices is openly available at (https://www.biodiversitystandard.org/our-method). The manual comprehensively outlines the full assessment methodology, the restoration mentoring programme and the training requirements for certified assessors. The manual is available in English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish. The manual is intended to serve both as an introduction to TGBS for anyone interested in any of its aspects, and as a general guide to achieving positive biodiversity outcomes.

How can one apply for a site assessment by The Global Biodiversity Standard?

Applications for TGBS assessments are open and can be started through: https://application.biodiversitystandard.org/

What ecosystem types does The Global Biodiversity Standard encompass?

Sites from all terrestrial and coastal ecosystem types can be assessed and certified under The Global Biodiversity Standard. As the TGBS methodology is designed to specifically measure ecological uplift (rather than to simply quantify biodiversity), it can be applied to ecosystems with all initial levels of biodiversity, and will not penalize projects working in regions with naturally low biodiversity.

TGBS aims to  expand its assessments to include marine and freshwater ecosystems in the future.

How large must a site be to be eligible to receive The Global Biodiversity Standard certification?

There are no upper or lower limits to the size of sites that can be certified under The Global Biodiversity Standard.

How are areas that consist of multiple smallholder sites assessed?

If an area consists of multiple smallholder sites, all sites must fall under the same management in order to be covered by a single assessment; otherwise, each site will need to apply for its own certification. We are currently developing plans that allow for collective applications for smallholder sites.

The Global Biodiversity Standard does not use a sampling approach, and is thus only able to certify site that have applied, had a remote sensing and field survey and have been directly assessed. Applicants may request to have a portion of their project assessed for certification, but the resulting certification will apply to only that particular portion, and not to their project as a whole.

Do different types of projects have different scoring systems?

All projects are assessed using the same scoring system. The assessment methodology has been developed to function for a wide range of projects across the restorative continuum, including protected areas, ecological restoration sites, rehabilitative agriculture (e.g., agroforestry) projects, and tree plantations. The methodology assesses and scores change in biodiversity, ecosystem integrity,  protection, stakeholder engagement and social benefits, and monitoring, evaluation and adaptive management, between the project’s inceptions and the date of assessment, rather than absolute levels.

Is The Global Biodiversity Standard certification a one-time evaluation?

The Global Biodiversity Standard certifications are valid for five years; after that, applicants must pass a renewal assessment in order to retain their site’s certification. (Renewal assessments are in general quicker and simpler than initial assessments, as much of the data required for the renewal assessment will already have been collected for initial assessment’s baseline studies.). The certification renewal process ensures that positive impacts on a site’s biodiversity are sustained through effective ongoing adaptive management. 

How does The Global Biodiversity Standard work alongside the voluntary carbon and biodiversity credit markets?

The Global Biodiversity Standard certifies sites that have created positive impacts on biodiversity. The methodology has been tested to work for carbon credit projects. The standard can work in conjunction with the voluntary carbon market by providing assurance that carbon credits are associated with additional positive impacts on biodiversity. The Global Biodiversity Standard is designed to provide recognition for sites that have improved biodiversity and is not designed to be used as a compensatory or tradeable product. Sites that generate biodiversity credits may be eligible to apply for The Global Biodiversity Standard. The Global Biodiversity Standard is different, however, from biodiversity credits, as credits are aimed at generating tradable products in line with the nature-positive movement (not to be used as an offset).

Does The Global Biodiversity Standard apply to conservation areas?

Conservation areas that achieve an increase in biodiversity are eligible for certification under The Global Biodiversity Standard, whether that improvement is achieved solely through protective measures or through active interventions. As with other sites, conservation areas will have to score sufficiently high against the eight criteria of the TGBS framework in order to receive certification.

Do agricultural projects have to include native species to qualify for The Global Biodiversity Standard?

Yes, all sites being assessed under The Global Biodiversity Standard must include native species. However, the presence, abundance, and diversity of native species are only a few of the many criteria taken into account in The Global Biodiversity Standard’s assessment and certification process.  Thus, agricultural initiatives that plant non-native crops may still be able to qualify for The Global Biodiversity Standard certification if they successfully increase the abundance of some native species and also score highly against the Standard’s other criteria.

Are the eight criteria ordered by priority?

The eight criteria that comprise The Global Biodiversity Standard certification are not ordered by any sort of priority. All are of equal importance, and this is reflected in the scoring system, according to which sites are scored 0 to 10 on each criterion. 

Does The Global Biodiversity Standard assess both plant and animal biodiversity?

The Global Biodiversity Standard certification process assesses projects across a range of attributes that reflect both plant and animal biodiversity. Not all species are monitored through the assessment process, but indicator groups appropriate to the site’s ecosystem are assessed, e.g., trees, epiphytes, birds, beetles, etc. The use of indicators allows the Standard to apply across all ecosystems. In addition to monitoring plant and animal biodiversity, the Standard assesses projects across other attributes that include species composition, structural diversity, ecosystem function, external exchanges, the absence of threats and physical conditions, and more. 

How is climate change incorporated into The Global Biodiversity Standard?

Ecosystem restoration needs to take climate change into consideration in order to assure the long-term success of restorative interventions. The Global Biodiversity Standard’s criterion 7 assesses a site’s ability to adapt to both sudden shocks and long-term changing conditions, such as climate change.

What remote sensing methodologies are used?

Remote sensing studies are a requirement for every TGBS assessment, and play a role both in establishing historical baseline conditions and in assessing the current state of a site.  A wide range of remote sensing methods can be used to assess sites under consideration for The Global Biodiversity Standard certification. Spaceborne sensors are used to understand historical trends in the 21 sub-attributes of the SER 5-star system for ecosystem integrity and biodiversity. Other active and passive sensors, including optical, multispectral, hyperspectral, lidar and radar data products, can also be used to gather relevant information Sites are then  assessed by comparing their signatures against  reference (intact) and highly degraded  sites of the same ecosystem type within the region. This data is standardised against the historical trend to account for any natural fluctuations in signatures that may be driven by external factors, such as climate. A combination of standard and bespoke methodologies are used, dependent on the site, its conditions, and the tools and technologies available locally. A list of methods is outlined in Section 4 and Appendix D of The Global Biodiversity Standard Manual (https://www.biodiversitystandard.org/our-method). 

Is there third-party verification in The Global Biodiversity Standard assessment process?

Site assessments are made by The Global Biodiversity Standard hubs. All assessments are reviewed and verified by the Secretariat of The Global Biodiversity Standard. The Global Biodiversity Standard hubs operate independently from The Global Biodiversity Standard Secretariat. A random sample of assessments is also verified by additional third-party reviewers.

How long does the assessment process take?

The assessment process takes approximately 3-6 months from the submission of the Application Form to a decision about the award of certification. Timeframes may vary amongst applications because of a number of variables, such as the size of the site, logistics for field surveys, and availability of certified TGBS assessors.

Where are the current hubs established?

The Global Biodiversity Standard has fourteen hubs established on five continents.  These hubs are located in: 

How and when do you plan to establish new hubs?

The establishment of new hubs is dependent on demand for The Global Biodiversity Standard in any given country and region. Further, hubs require personnel with expertise in biodiversity and ecological restoration. The current hubs have been established from the Ecological Restoration Alliance. Priority for establishment of hubs will be given to members of Botanic Gardens Conservation International. If you are interested in establishing a hub at your organisation, please contact us at info@biodiversitystandard.org.

How do I become a certified assessor for The Global Biodiversity Standard?

Assessors receive their training and certification through The Global Biodiversity Standard hubs. The Global Biodiversity Standard’s assessor module includes the equivalent of 54 hours of training, and contains both theoretical and practical components as well as an examination. We recommend that interested individuals also seek certification under the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER)’s Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner (CERP) programme. 

Can a project volunteer to pilot the methodology on their site?

The testing phase of The Global Biodiversity Standard has been completed; however, we are actively seeking interest from organisations looking to become early adopters. If you are interested in becoming an early adopter, please contact us at info@biodiversitystandard.org.

Is it possible to read about pilot sites assessed under The Global Biodiversity Standard?

We are currently compiling a set of case studies to showcase projects that have been used to test the methodology for The Global Biodiversity Standard. They can be viewed at https://www.biodiversitystandard.org/case-studies/