Example calculations

Examples of biodiversity calculations conservation, restoration, and corporate-disclosure methodologies

We've made a strong call to action for the interoperability of our VBC unit, to corporate disclosure organizations, and multiple crediting bodies. Our hope is that although this methodology is limited in its applicability, an interoperable unit will spur market adoption, innovation in the field, and wider market adoption of biodiversity credits.

As described the Unit of a VBC is a fixed Area of one hectare, for a fixed Time of one month with measured Integrity reported on a scale from 0-1. Where full integrity is an ecosystem with every ecological niche available to, and filled by, native species.

This appendix is to provide real-world examples for why this unit is interoperable and can be used for any conservation, restoration, eradication, or pollination methodology.

Table 3. Example calculations (with loose estimates) based on this unit include:

Action	Impact	Credits issued	Calculation
Conservation	100% conserved Amazon primary forest through an indicator species methodology in a biodiversity hotspot	5 Platinum credits	5 ha of 100% intact ecosystem in a Platinum ecosystem.
Restoration	Farmland converted to regenerative farming. Log-normalized increase in ecosystem integrity from 50%-> 60% in an IUCN 'Vulnerable' ecosystem.	10 Silver credists	100 ha of farmland * 10% increase in a Silver ecosystem
Pollination	Bees added to central Austin as pollinators. 0.01% increase over 3 mile radius in ecosystem with no intrinsic ranking.	73 Bronze credits	7,321 ha * 0.01 increase in Bronze ecosystem.
Eradication	Sea urchins pulled from kelp beds in California's kelp forests.	10 Gold credits	200 ha * 5% increase in Gold ecosystem
Impact	Petroleum drilling in ocean desert.	-50 Bronze credits	1000 ha * 5% impact in Bronze ecosystem
Impact	Military oil spill in Hawaiian bay.	-150 Gold credits	500 ha * 30% impact in Gold ecosystem