When a project becomes PV Nature certified, it can then generate Plan Vivo Biodiversity Certificates (PVBCs). The sale of PVBCs by the project can then help fund operational costs, expansion costs and pay the participants their fair and equitable share of income. 

However, becoming Plan Vivo-certified takes dedication and resources to achieve, and not all prospective projects will be eligible. To understand whether PV Nature-certification is suitable for your project, please see the following sections:

  

1. Submit your Project Idea Note (PIN)

2. Submit PDD and Technical Specifications for Review

Projects compile information on the project area and location, participants, activities and other information using the PV Nature PDD (Project Design Document) template.

Technical specifications are components of the PDD that describe the biodiversity data collection tools and monitoring activities that align with the PV Nature Methodology for calculating biodiversity benefits. Technical specifications also include information interventions in the project, and describe the management operations, monitoring indicators and impacts of each activity.

The technical specifications can be separate to the PDD or integrated into the PDD (at the discretion of the project). The Plan Vivo Foundation coordinates peer reviews of technical specifications through its PV Nature Technical Review Panel. After checking the PDD for completeness and compliance with PV Nature, the document can be approved by Plan Vivo Foundation. 

 

3. Validation and registration

To become registered as a Plan Vivo project, a project is visited and assessed to ensure it is implementing systems according to its approved documents and the requirements of PV Nature.

Projects can engage a validator from a list of Plan Vivo approved individuals or propose a candidate to be approved by the Plan Vivo Foundation. The validator will interview key project staff and community members, to ensure appropriate training has taken place and participation is informed and voluntary.

The validator prepares a validation report based on their findings and submits to the project coordinator and the Plan Vivo Foundation. Once the validation field visit is complete and the validator’s feedback has been addressed satisfactorily, the project can be registered under PV Nature. You can find more information on the PV Nature Validation & Verification page.

4. Methodologies

Following approval of technical specifications and approval of the project by the reviewer, projects are entered into the PV Nature Projects Register on the Plan Vivo website. Once registered, projects can enter into sales contracts with purchasers for Plan Vivo Biodiversity Certificates (PVBCs).

In order to issue PVBCs, projects must first submit biodiversity baseline data plus two years of annual monitoring data. This will be in addition to two years of annual reports to the foundation, with monitoring data for the period concerned, and updates on all major elements of administration and operation, that need to be approved by the Plan Vivo Foundation.

Issuance of PVBCs is only possible after two years of operation, please see PV Nature Methodology and the PV Nature PVBC Calculation Protocol for more information.

5. Verification

At least every 5 years, projects are required to schedule third-party verification visit, which assess whether projects are on track to deliver the benefits laid out in the project design documents. You can find more information on the PV Nature Validation & Verification page.

 

 Any questions? Please contact [email protected]

 

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