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Implementing Ecosystem Crediting
September 2014
508-compliant HTML representation of Figure 1.1
← Return to Implementing Ecosystem Crediting report
Figure 1.1: The phases and milestones for building and operating an ecosystem crediting strategy
Building a Crediting Strategy
Milestones
1. Feasibility
Adequate demand & supply of credits
Supportive policies are in place for crediting
The science is available to quantify credits
Local leaders have the skill and willingness to implement
Costs of building a strategy match expected benefits/savings
2. Convening
Identification of roles
List of stakeholders and requirements of them
List of potential challenges
Process design completed
3. Design (Goals & Methods)
Clarify ecological and other program goals
Select field and landscape-scale credit quantification methods
3. Design (Eligibility)
Define baseline requirements
Set service area boundaries
Establish credit project performance standards
Set timing, duration, and maintenance requirements for credits
3. Design (Verification, Certification, & Reporting)
Define what gets verified, by whom, and when
Clarify role for agencies approving credit transactions
Establish reporting rules and database
3. Design (Ratios, Liability, Infrastructure, & Testing)
Set trading ratios for uncertainty and other factors
Define other liability and enforcement tools
Build necessary infrastructure to make crediting easy
Operating a Crediting Strategy
Milestones
4. Testing
Do a test pilot to make sure the crediting strategy design matches local capacities and ecological realities
5. Agreement
Secure formal strategy agreement with agency approval
6. Operations
Establish strategy governance structure
Complete strategy user’s guide
Set pricing structure
Provide training for participants
Agree to business plan for sustaining strategy operations
7. Adaptive Management
Annual report on strategy results
Agree to changes needed to quantification methods and strategy designs
List of needed information and research
Make strategy improvements over time
← Return to Implementing Ecosystem Crediting report
