Toute l'actualitéIn terms of Nature-based Solutions, high-quality forestry and agroforestry projects offer strong co-benefits for biodiversity, climate, soil health, water resources and people. The Global Biodiversity Standard is today the most robust biodiversity standard that certifies projects by assessing their specific impact on biodiversity. In addition to its role as an impact assessment expert and representative of the Europe hub, Reforest'Action now hosts its certified assessors.
Certifying projects based on biodiversity recovery
The ambition of The Global Biodiversity Standard
Introduced in 2022, The Global Biodiversity Standard (TGBS) is the only international standard to recognize and encourage the protection, enhancement and restoration of biodiversity. Against a backdrop of increasing numbers of projects to create and restore forest and agroforestry ecosystems, this standard aims to certify best practices that generate positive impacts on biodiversity, including the diversification of tree species and integrating native species into project design.
In the long term, The Global Biodiversity Standard aims to change the benchmark so that biodiversity is placed at the heart of all initiatives that help combat climate change and develop the livelihoods of local communities.
Founded by Botanic Garden Conservation International, The Global Biodiversity Standard is supported by an international scientific and technical network that includes IUCN, CIFOR-ICRAF, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the Society for Ecological Restoration, Reforest'Action and others. The standard has tested its certification method in real-life conditions at over a hundred different sites, in collaboration with botanic gardens and other biodiversity institutions in India, Kenya, Peru, Brazil, Madagascar, Uganda, Malaysia, Jordan and Hong Kong.
Our remote sensing tools for The Global Biodiversity Standard
As part of the Global Biodiversity Standard's technical and scientific network, Reforest'Action has been contributing its expertise in forest ecosystem restoration and impact measurement since 2022, and is developing remote sensing monitoring tools in particular. Reforest'Action offers The Global Biodiversity Standard a catalog of tools dedicated to remote sensing measurements. These measurements are carried out both upstream of the implementation of projects certified by the standard, and downstream, as part of their monitoring.
Reforest’Action becomes official hub for TGBS
In addition to its role as an expert in impact management, Reforest'Action is now officially the European hub of The Global Biodiversity Standard, with the aim of bringing this certification to the Europe.
At the end of January 2025, a panel of 7 internal Reforest'Action experts were trained by two Global Biodiversity Standard trainers, David Bartholomew (from the Secretariat) and Kiran Baldwin (from the India hub). External guests from our partner ecosystem - Sylva Nova, Preferred By Nature and Biotope - were also trained on this occasion.
The aim of the training was to enable our team and our partners to carry out the audits required to award Global Biodiversity Standard certification to projects located in Europe.
Reforest'Action thus joins the worldwide network of 200 assessors certified by The Global Biodiversity Standard, and will be able to call on its trained partners to certify its own projects, or to take part in the auditing process of third-party projects.
What is the added value of TGBS-certified projects for the companies that finance them?
“The aim of the Global Biodiversity Standard is to validate the biodiversity impact of forestry and agroforestry projects, whether certified by international carbon standards or not,” says Clara Manuel, Project Manager at Reforest'Action and internal operational referent for The Global Biodiversity Standard. “A TGBS-certified project can reinforce the credibility of companies, demonstrate their real commitment to biodiversity and offer a competitive advantage in terms of environmental responsibility. By improving the ecological state of ecosystems and their biodiversity, TGBS-certified projects are complementary to climate impact ambitions, materialized by certified carbon credits from dedicated international standards.”
Healthy ecosystems not only help mitigate climate change, they also enable human societies to adapt to its consequences. Like carbon certification, TGBS certification is not an end in itself, but a means to the end of restoring ecosystems. In this respect, it is fully in line with Reforest'Action's mission to ensure, through its impact management process, that projects generate benefits not only for the climate, but also for biodiversity, the soil-water system and local communities.
TGBS assessment criteria and certification process
Evaluation criteria
Projects submitted for The Global Biodiversity Standard certification are assessed against criteria derived from the “10 golden rules for reforestation”. This scientific document, promulgated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Botanic Garden Conservation International, provides guidelines to ensure that reforestation and agroforestry projects promote biodiversity restoration, carbon sequestration and the creation of socio-economic benefits for local communities.
Projects certified by The Global Biodiversity Standard, whatever their type (reforestation, agroforestry, wetland restoration, etc.), must comply with these 8 criteria:
- Select appropriate sites to enhance native biodiversity.
- Enhance protection of existing habitats and biodiversity.
- Protect, restore and manage biodiversity in consultation and partnership with local communities and other stakeholders.
- Aim to maximize biodiversity recovery through ecosystem restoration.
- Avoid and reduce invasive or potentially invasive species.
- Prioritize the use of native, threatened and rare species.
- Promote biodiversity and adaptive capacity.
- Implement robust monitoring, evaluation and adaptive management of biodiversity.
The certification process
The certification process begins with a remote sensing survey, followed by a field audit led by a certified assessor from hubs like Reforest'Action, accompanied by three partner or local experts (each with a specialty in fauna, flora and socio-economic impact).
The methodology for rating projects, led by the assessor, is then based on:
- Measurement of changes in ecosystem integrity, including biodiversity, as listed in the Ecological Recovery Wheel, a tool designed by the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) to study the process that accompanies the recovery of a degraded or destroyed ecosystem.
- Assessment of the project's adaptive management measures (based on UN Decade Standards of Practice)
- Assessment of the site’s level of protection (aligned with IUCN protection categories)
- Assessment of the project's socio-economic impacts (based on the Social Benefits Wheel designed by the Society for Ecological Restoration). Indeed, the benefits of a project for biodiversity can only be maintained over the long term if local communities are closely involved, for example through the creation of sustainable economic activities linked to the project.
The project then receives an audit score on a 10-point scale, with a certification level at 5 points, Advanced certification at 7 points and a premium level at 9 points. The audit can take place as early as the design phase of a project, based on the evaluation of projected impact indicators (in which case it is the management plan that is certified), or after implementation. Certification, when awarded, is valid for 5 years, after which it must be reassessed.
The voluntary carbon market is certainly a key lever for restoring ecosystems on a large scale. But the development of a dedicated biodiversity certification through The Global Biodiversity Standard, for which Reforest'Action now hosts certified assessors, also aims to direct more funds towards high-quality Nature-based Solutions, enabling companies not only to meet their climate objectives under the Paris Agreement, but also to generate positive impacts for biodiversity and local communities. Our mission is to support these companies as they move towards sustainable business models. Are you a company looking to finance projects with a high impact on biodiversity? Reforest'Action offers you the opportunity to invest in project certification. Contact one of our experts to discuss your needs.