# Time **It is critical that when understanding the Time of this unit, readers realize that time for a *****unit*****, is not the same as time for a *****monitoring period*****.** For instance, if you purchase a lollypop for $1, you can pay a $1 bill, or four $0.25c coins and it will be *the same transaction*. Units are about the standard "size" of the currency, not the value of the transaction. So a 20-year restoration methodology might only deliver results after a monitoring period of 1-2 years, and with this unit would issue *12 units per year*. We are paying in smaller "coins" for several very sound reasons outlined below, not changing the total "price" of the transaction. ### Why one month? **Time** is always 1 month. This time period was chosen *only* for intuitive sensibility and pricing and market adoption of VBCs at the time of unit release based on pilot data, adopting entities, and early market signals. * Conservation credits of 1 year \~$30 were less desirable to buyers than credits of 1 month at \~$2.50 which was closer to market pricing for carbon commodities ($1-7). * A month makes intuitive sense to people when looking at shorter units. * Shorter time scales allow for biodiversity fluctuations, and account for ongoing predation, and trafficking of rare species within the 1-year monitoring periods. It captures granular reporting for restoration integrity increases.

Biodiversity unit Time unit based on market pricing - Ecological Benefits Framework

There are some benefits to more granular crediting in some conservation projects. * IP and LC experts working on Savimbo's [indicator-species conservation methodology](https://isbm.savimbo.com) felt 1 year was too long to accurately reflect conservation outcomes in monitoring sites without tagged animals as a jaguar could be killed for its teeth immediately after observation in month 1 of a 12-month crediting cycle. * 2 month crediting periods followed optimum hunter-gatherer tracking activities. Allowing for rest periods and scouting for indicator species, yet delivering clear signals for species that had relocated or disappeared. ### Longer-term projects Restoration projects will most likely require twenty-year commitments with minimum 5-year action crediting. This does not affect the Time unit in the *slightest*.