Calculation of a biodiversity credit
A formula for calculating a biodiversity action or impact.
Last updated
A formula for calculating a biodiversity action or impact.
Last updated
Calculations that form this unit must be methodology-specific. A true unit, simply gives standardized dimensions for the final output. However, many people have asked for a formula so a simple example of a unified calculation formula is as follows, which may be further modified by area-based methodologies.
Sample general calculation:
Variables
Where a is the unit area (one hectare)
Where A is the project area
Where t is the unit time (one month), the starting point of a unit time is t=0, and the end of the first unit time is t=1.
Where T is the monitoring period
By definition, restoration projects monitor actions which lead to positive changes in Integrity. As the unit time is short, it is reasonable to simply credit the Integrity in each successive month of the crediting time.
Many methodologies will choose to subtract a baseline integrity when they credit. However the mechanism to update that baseline from one crediting period to another must be clear for fair crediting.
On average, restoration projects selling biodiversity credits bring a 10x higher credit price than conservation projects. The unit is meant to clearly document in a comparable format what this does for biodiversity itself, not set pricing for activities that are quite divergent and often far more labor intensive.
A successful restoration project will need to switch to conservation activities, and some projects might be heterogeneous or segmented between the two.
By definition, conservation projects are actions meant to maintain a near-total integrity. They will likely have a cutoff Integrity score for inclusion.
