What
In many countries, regulations rarely mandate measuring biodiversity impacts during tree planting projects or integration of threatened species into reforestation or forest restoration projects. Instead, the primary motivations are carbon capture and commodity production for livelihoods. The current ‘carbon rush’ infrastructure limitations (for example, lack of climate-appropriate genetically diverse seeds and seedlings of appropriate provenance) and limited skills in the formal forestry sector mean that exotic, low diversity monoculture tree planting is favored over more diverse portfolios. While native trees can support thousands of species (The Oak supports 2,300 species), exotics often yield environments with minimal biodiversity or human benefits. Millions of hectares have been pledged by governments, corporates and NGOs for tree-planting and restoration, primarily to sequester carbon. However, these efforts primarily plant exotic monocultures, damaging native biodiversity and ecosystem services and frequently fail.

Therefore the site-based Global Biodiversity Standard (GBS) certification is being developed, which will provide assurances to investors, build local capacity to assess impacts on biodiversity, and mentor practitioners to plant the right trees in the right places for better biodiversity, carbon and livelihood outcomes.

Goal
The GBS seeks to provide assurance that land management interventions such as tree planting, habitat restoration and agroforestry practices undertaken by organizations and governments are protecting, safeguarding, and restoring biodiversity, rather than inadvertently causing harm. It aims to ensure biodiversity projects deliver positive outcomes for nature, while offering confidence to investors that finance is being used for verifiable biodiversity purposes.

Recent activities
The GBS is supporting:

• The development of a new certification scheme that recognizes positive biodiversity outcomes in land management initiatives, including tree planting projects;

• The design of a new monitoring framework to support best practice;

• Development of sustainable business models to ensure longevity of the project and covering costs for independent reviews;

• Engagement with policymakers to integrate the GBS into new policies about tree planting and nature-based solution pledges.

Benefits
The GBS will deliver multiple benefits:

• The GBS represents an accessible certification, recognizing positive biodiversity impacts.

• The GBS is providing mentoring for improved biodiversity within tree-planting practices.

• It offers carbon sequestration projects assurance on their biodiversity impact.

• The GBS is partnering with private sector actors to aid companies, governments, and financiers to support land restoration to reduce reputational risks and bolster their image by enhancing, not harming biodiversity.

• This work strives to address inequity by bolstering botanical expertise in the Global South and fostering reciprocal information-sharing networks that help botanists in the Global North learn new approaches being developed in the Global South. This aligns with the KMGBF target for collaborative global, south-south, north-south, and triangular actions (T20).

The GBS certification involves local biodiversity experts in land-use decision-making and offers technical guidance for enhanced biodiversity in diverse land uses, including agriculture and agroforestry. Empowerment is a long-term legacy of the GBS: it not only provides income to individuals, businesses, and biodiversity institutions, but also provide opportunities for long-term technical engagement in tree-planting and restoration programs across different land users. For instance, through the GBS, restoration hubs like those by Huarango Nature in Peru have been built, aiding restoration of the Andean and coastal dry forests. This supports Peru's commitment to restore 1.2 million ha of degraded forest.

Lessons learned
Regardless of the affordability and accessibility of the certification, without regulatory requirements, stipulations related to risk management or other drivers/incentives for taking up the Standard, it will have limited appeal if biodiversity is not linked to monetary benefits for tree-planting stakeholders. For this reason, policymakers and financiers of tree-planting are being actively engaged, to ensure the right trees are planted, monitored, and maintained.

This project is currently being implemented in 8 tropical countries across 3 continents (Brazil, India, Jordan, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Peru, Uganda), but will be expanded to more countries over the upcoming years.

Synergies with other Points of the 10 Point Plan
1 – International Financial Flows
5 – Private Sector Alignment
6 – Philanthropy
10 – Partnerships for Biodiversity

Relevant links and resources
Please look at the Biodiversity Standard website for further information, and to take action:
https://www.biodiversitystandard.org/
https://www.biodiversitystandard.org/take-action/