Monitor and Evaluate a Nature Credits or Biodiversity Project

Using this package you can use Earth Blox to carry out a comprehensive assessment to monitor and evaluate a Nature Credits or biodiversity project. These workflows broadly align with the Verra SD VISta Nature Framework to quantify the current ecosystem condition and historic change in biodiversity occurring within a project area.

This package bundles up the six template workflows needed to measure positive changes in biodiversity quality and coverage, or to intermittently monitor your existing project.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Project 1: Assess the Function Component of Ecosystem Condition
• Project 2: Assess the Structure Component of Ecosystem Condition
• Project 3: Assess Ecosystem Type and Extent
• Project 4: Assess the Pressures Component of Ecosystem Condition
• Project 5: Assess the Composition Component of Ecosystem Condition
• Project 6: Biodiversity Significance Assessment for Nature Credits Projects

Project 1: Assess the Function Component of Ecosystem Condition

Ecosystem condition is evaluated using four different metrics. The first of these is function, which evaluates the quality of ecological processes and fluxes in the project area, such as NDVI and NPP (Net Primary Productivity).

• Datasets Used:
  • RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017
  • MODIS Terra Net Primary Production Gap-Filled Yearly Global 500m
  • Sentinel-2 MultiSpectral
• Core Outputs:
  • NDVI & NPP Scores: Calculates an NDVI score thresholded to eliminate negative values , alongside an NPP score scaled between 0 and 1.
  • Function Map Layer: Maps the final ecosystem function metric by taking the mean of NDVI and NPP for each pixel.
  • A dashboard table summarises the mean function score across your grouped ecosystems.

Project 2: Assess the Structure Component of Ecosystem Condition

The second condition metric is structure, which assesses the physical size and form of the ecosystem as well as the physical and chemical characteristics, such as biomass, canopy cover, or leaf area index.

• Datasets Used:
  • RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017
  • MODIS Leaf Area Index and FPAR 4-Day (500m)
  • Above Ground Biomass (ESA GDFAGv4)
• Core Outputs:
  • Biomass & LAI Scores: Processes Leaf Area Index (LAI) divided by 10 to establish a baseline canopy metric. Above Ground Biomass (AGB) is processed so that a maximum score of 1 is assigned when the density of AGB is more than 150 tonnes per hectare.
  • Structure Map Layer & Table: Displays the structure metric layer calculated from the mean of the AGB and LAI scores for each pixel. The mean ecosystem structure score per ecosystem is generated inside a dashboard table.

Project 3: Assess Ecosystem Type and Extent

This project assesses the type and extent of specific ecosystems present within a potential or ongoing project, which is important for accurately quantifying the biodiversity outcomes throughout the project’s lifetime.

• Datasets Used:
  • RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017
• Core Outputs:
  • Ecosystem Extents Map Layer: A vector map layer showing the boundaries of any ecosystems overlapping with the project area, styled dynamically using unique colors based on the ecosystem name attribute.
  • Ecosystem Extent Table: A table breakdown tracking vector attributes including total calculated hectares and the exact percentage of the area of interest occupied by each ecosystem type.

Project 4: Assess the Pressures Component of Ecosystem Condition

Ecosystem pressures investigates the scale and severity of threatening processes, such as land use change, by quantifying the conversion from natural to unnatural land within and around the project area (within a 1km buffer zone).  The buffer can be adjusted by the user.  

• Datasets Used: 
  • RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017
  • Dynamic World
• Core Outputs:
  • Landcover Grouping: Classifies Dynamic World land cover into "Natural" (Classes 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8) and "Unnatural" (Classes 4, 6, 7) groupings across historic and current time periods.
  • Pressures Map Layer: Maps explicit conversion where pixels were natural in 2018 but shifted to unnatural by 2020.  These dates can be modified by the user.
  • Table: Generates a Pressure Score table indicating the percentage of natural land cover converted to unnatural land cover across the different project ecoregions.

Project 5: Assess the Composition Component of Ecosystem Condition

Ecosystem condition is evaluated using four different metrics. Composition refers to the quality of the ecosystem and assesses the variety, identity, and abundance of organisms in the project area.

• Datasets Used:
  • RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017
  • Sentinel-2 MultiSpectral (to determine the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI))
  • Biodiversity Intactness Index
• Core Outputs:
  • Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) Score: Automatically thresholds the zonal standard deviation of EVI from the mean to map vegetative baseline variation, scaling values between 0 and 1.
  • Composition Map Layer: Creates an overall ecosystem composition map layer by calculating the mean of the Biodiversity Intactness Index (BII) and the EVI score for each pixel.
  • Table:  Displays the final mean ecosystem composition score for the project area in a dashboard table.

Project 6: Biodiversity Significance Assessment for Nature Credits Projects

Biodiversity significance is evaluated using four attributes, each representing a different target under Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) Goal A. These targets are: (1) Halt the loss of ecosystems with high ecological integrity; (2) Effective restoration of degraded ecosystems; (3) Effective conservation of ecologically representative areas; and (4) Halt extinctions and reduce extinction risk.

This project assesses these four targets through a combination of metrics to provide a comprehensive significance score for the project area.

• Datasets Used:
  • Critical Natural Assets Map
  • Ecoregions Intactness Index (1km)
  • RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017
  • Biodiversity Hotspots
  • Biodiversity Intactness Index
    
    

• Core Outputs:
  • Target Alignment Layers: Processes land and ocean Critical Natural Assets (Normalised Contribution to People) , Ecoregion Intactness Index (Target 1) , Biodiversity Hotspot Proximity scaling from 1 down to 0 inside 100km (Targets 2 and 4) , and Biodiversity Intactness (Target 3).
  • Location Significance Score: Maps a combined raster index based on the average score of all active metrics.
  • Tables:  Produces summary dashboard tables tracking both individual max metric breakdowns and the definitive overall significance index of the ecosystem (where 1 is high significance and 0 is low).