Join a presentation on the Global Biodiversity Standard (GBS) featuring Alexandre Antonelli, Director of Science at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The presentation will focus on how the GBS can contribute to secure positive impacts for biodiversity for nature-based climate solutions.

The GBS is developed by Botanic Gardens Conservation International, the Society for Ecological Restoration, CIFOR-ICRAF, IUCN Species Survival Commission, Plan Vivo, Reforest’Action, Rabobank, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, TRAFFIC, and 1t.org.

It is a new, site-based certification methodology designed to assess the impacts of tree planting for carbon sequestration, agroforestry and ecological restoration initiatives on biodiversity, and to mentor practitioners to achieve better biodiversity outcomes. The methodology includes remote-sensing and ground surveys carried out by ‘GBS hubs’ in Brazil, India, Jordan, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Peru, and Uganda located in already well-established biodiversity organizations.

The standard directly supports Target 2 of the Global Biodiversity Framework and provides assurance to governments and financiers of tree planting, ecological restoration and rehabilitation activities that their activities are not harming biodiversity and/or that they are providing positive biodiversity outcomes.

Its methodology uses an innovative approach to assessing the contribution of Nature-based Solutions and Forest Landscape Restoration to biodiversity recovery and combines the knowledge of local biodiversity experts and cutting-edge remote sensing technologies. The GBS is the first biodiversity-specific certification scheme with a standardized methodology that can be applied across projects of all sizes.