1. Start date How old can the project be? Expand Typically, a prospective project will not yet be operational and will use the 2013 Plan Vivo Standard from the outset. However, it is possible for a project that is already operational to become an approved Plan Vivo Project, provided it can meet the requirements of 2013 Plan Vivo Standard. In such instances, retroactive crediting is possible for up to three years prior to beginning the registration process with Plan Vivo, provided that there is a strong argument for additionality and it can be evidenced that the project always intended to become carbon certified and generate carbon credits.
2. Participants Who can benefit from a Plan Vivo-certified project? Expand Plan Vivo projects operate with smallholders and/or communities. More-specifically, producers in the project must be: Small-scale farmers, land-users or forest dwellers with recognised land tenure or user rights, whether as an individual (i.e. smallholder) or collectively as a community (see requirements 4 & 5); Organised, or in the process of being organised, into cooperatives, associations, community-based organisations or other organisational forms able to contribute to the social and economic development of their members and communities and democratically controlled by the members; and Able to use existing farmland, forest, woodland or other land type for project activities without undermining livelihood needs. Producers should also not be structurally dependent on permanently hired labour, and should manage their land mainly with their own and their family’s labour force.
3. Project Coordinators What organisations can run/coordinate a Plan Vivo-certified project? Expand A "Project Coordinator" is the entity that runs the day-to-day management of a project (monitoring, recruitment, reporting to Plan Vivo etc.) and, most often, develops the project. Project Coordinators must: Be an established legal entity that takes responsibility for the project and meeting the requirements of the Plan Vivo Standard for its duration; Have a strong in-country presence and the respect and experience required to work effectively with local communities and partners; Be focused and have the organisational capability and an ability to mobilise the necessary resources to develop the project; Have the capability to negotiate and deal with government, local organisations & institutions, and buyers of ecosystem services; and Have the ability to mobilise and train participants, implement and monitor project activities, carry out technical functions. Project Coordinators should also not draw on more than 40 percent of income from the sale of Plan Vivo Certificates for ongoing coordination, administration and monitoring costs, save in exceptional circumstances where justification is provided to the Plan Vivo Foundation and a waiver formally agreed. It is fairly common for coordination to be divided between an international and an in-country coordinator, with a clear division of roles and responsibilities between the two parties. This does not, however, affect the benefit-sharing requirement, as 60% of the income from the sale of Plan Vivo Certificates must still reach the participants unless otherwise agreed with the Plan Vivo Foundation.
4. Land status What type of land can Plan Vivo-certified projects work on? Expand The land used in the project, where the interventions take place that will generate Plan Vivo Certificates (if desired), must be either smallholder land or community-owned land. Land that is not owned by or subject to user rights of smallholders or communities may be included in the project area if it: Represents less than a third of the project area at all times; Was not acquired from smallholders/communities in order to develop the project; Bestows clear benefits to the project on a landscape level; and Is managed under an executed agreement between the owners/managers and the project participants. In exceptional circumstances, public/government land may be used for a project if management and carbon rights can be clearly transferred to nearby locals. The suitability of this would need to be discussed with the Plan Vivo Foundation on a case-by-case basis.
5. Land tenure and user rights What land tenure or user rights must be secured for participants? Expand Land tenure or user rights must be secure and stable so that there can be clear ownership, traceability and accountability for ecosystem service benefits, such as carbon reduction or sequestration, and the ability to commit to project interventions for the duration of PES Agreements. Ideally, land tenure will be government-recognised and officially documented. However, we recognise that this is not possible in some countries. Therefore, in such instances, community-recognised land rights can be accepted so long as steps are taken to minimise the risk of local disputes over land tenure and on the condition that the project works with the government to help participants to acquire official recognition of their land tenure.
6. Carbon rights What assurances are required around carbon rights? Expand For projects that wish to issue Plan Vivo Certificates, they must ensure that project participants have clear ownership of the carbon on their land, which includes having confidence that there are no laws preventing the ownership or trading of carbon by the smallholders. It must also be clear that there is no double-counting of carbon benefits (where more than one entity takes credit for the same CO2 reductions or removals) by demonstrating that no other carbon projects are operating in the same area or, if there are carbon projects operating, that appropriate steps are being taken by both projects to prevent the double counting of carbon.
7. Activities/interventions What activities/interventions can the project employ? Expand Projects must: Enable communities to plan and take control of their resources in a sustainable way that promotes rural livelihoods and other environmental and social co-benefits; Be able to generate ecosystem service benefits through one or more of the following project intervention types under the Plan Vivo System: Ecosystem restoration – Enabling the recovery of an eco-system which has been degraded, damaged or destroyed. This is done by re-establishing the structure, productivity and species diversity that was previously present in the areas, such as through planting trees. Ecosystem rehabilitation – Assisting the recovery of an ecosystem which has been degraded, damaged or destroyed by repairing processes, productivity and services, but without re-establishing pre-existing structures. For example, inter-planting native tree species on degraded agriculture land to restore soil functions. Prevention of ecosystem conversion or degradation – Protecting an ecosystem from degradation or conversion. An example would be preventing deforestation by reducing agricultural expansion into forest land, or the introduction of new grazing practices to stop grassland degradation. Improved Land Use Management – Improving land use and land use management to increase the provision of ecosystem services, e.g. reduce GHG emissions and/or increase carbon stocks. Be additional, not liable to cause leakage, and provide foundations for permanence, as described in the Plan Vivo Standard; Involve the planting and/or promote the restoration or protection of native or naturalised plant and tree species. The use of naturalised (i.e. non-invasive) species is acceptable only where such species are: Preferable to any alternative native species owing to compelling livelihood benefits; Specifically selected by communities for this purpose; Not going to result in any negative effects on biodiversity or the provision of key ecosystem services in the project and surrounding areas. Encourage the development of local capacity and minimise dependency on external support.
8. Implementation How should the coordinator implement the project? Expand The project must be: Committed to initiating new activities on a pilot basis, gain experience, and identify improvements (‘learning by doing’); Implemented through practical capabilities ‘on the ground’, not by imposing high-level targets from above.