Plan Vivo PV Nature Biodiversity Units

Updated 2026-11-02 · 4 min read · By the akar.earth specialist team

PV Nature explained: Plan Vivo's biodiversity standard, how Plan Vivo Biodiversity Certificates are calculated and certified, and the Indonesian angle.

PV Nature is Plan Vivo’s biodiversity standard for locally led conservation and restoration projects. Certified projects issue Plan Vivo Biodiversity Certificates (PVBCs), which represent measured biodiversity outcomes, calculated through Plan Vivo’s PVBC Calculation Protocol rather than tonnes of carbon.

Plan Vivo describes PV Nature as its pioneering biodiversity standard. It runs alongside PV Climate, the carbon standard. For the wider market, read biodiversity credit methods and the biodiversity hub.

The PV Nature document set

Plan Vivo’s library lists the documents that make up PV Nature:

Read the current versions in the library. Plan Vivo runs public consultations on its standard documents, methodologies and PDDs, so the requirements change over time.

How PV Nature certification works step by step

1. Project idea note. Describe the site, community, threats and intended interventions.
2. Biodiversity baseline. Measure the starting condition with the indicators and methods allowed by the Methodology and Data Protocol.
3. Additionality. Apply the Baseline Additionality Assessment Tool to show what would happen without the project.
4. Design and governance. Agree activities, governance and benefit sharing with the community.
5. PDD and public consultation. Write the project design document. Plan Vivo posts documents for consultation.
6. Validation. An approved VVB or independent expert reviews the design.
7. Monitoring. Repeat biodiversity measurements on schedule.
8. Verification and issuance. Verified outcomes are converted into PVBCs through the calculation protocol.

Governance is shared: Plan Vivo’s Technical Advisory Committee and Secretariat take technical development decisions, and there is a dedicated Technical Review Panel for PV Nature.

Indonesia and Southeast Asia application

Indonesia is one of the world’s most biodiverse countries. Lowland forests in Sumatra and Kalimantan, the Wallacea islands, Papua and coral-fringed coastlines hold many endemic and threatened species. Community conservation is already widespread through social forestry and customary forests.

PV Nature could fit:

• Community-protected forest where patrols reduce hunting and logging.
• Mangrove and coastal restoration with fish and bird outcomes.
• Agroforestry landscapes that restore habitat connectivity.
• Peat swamp restoration that brings back hydrology and wildlife.

Practical requirements:

• Measurement capacity. Camera traps, bioacoustics, eDNA and transect surveys need trained teams and consistent protocols. Read biodiversity monitoring with acoustics and eDNA.
• Consistent baselines. Repeat surveys at the same points, season and effort.
• Clear land rights. Permenhut 6/2026 names communities, social forestry and customary forests as legitimate participants in forestry carbon. Biodiversity units are not yet covered by an equivalent Indonesian framework. Check current regulation before selling.

Pitfalls verifiers flag

• Baselines too short or measured in a different season from monitoring.
• Indicators that do not respond to project activities.
• Too few sampling points to detect change.
• Benefit sharing not documented.
• Claims that certificates offset carbon emissions.

Choosing indicators and methods

Pick indicators that respond to what the project does. If patrols reduce hunting, track encounter rates of hunted species. If restoration reconnects habitat, track forest bird or primate presence in restored areas. Use repeatable methods: fixed camera trap grids, timed point counts or acoustic recorders at the same sites. Record effort, such as camera nights or survey hours, so changes are not artefacts of sampling.

Involve community members in data collection. Local monitors know the forest, reduce costs and build ownership of results. Train them on a written protocol and check a sample of their records. Keep raw files, such as images and audio, so verifiers can review them.

PV Nature and carbon projects on the same land

Many Indonesian sites deliver both carbon and biodiversity outcomes. Plan Vivo says projects choose between PV Climate and PV Nature depending on their focus. If a site already earns carbon credits under another standard, check carefully whether and how biodiversity certificates can be issued for the same area, and explain the relationship to buyers so that claims stay distinct.

Demand and positioning

Biodiversity markets are young. Buyers use certificates for nature-positive contributions, not for offsetting. Read biodiversity credits vs carbon credits and compare with the Verra Nature Framework. Our biodiversity valuation service designs monitoring for these frameworks. See the standards hub.