Terminology

A collection of useful terminology

Aboveground biomass

The total mass of living matter above the ground is expressed as dry weight.

Agricultural crop

A plant that is grown and harvested for ecosystem benefits, profits or subsistence. This could be fruit, medicinal plants, or nut plants.

Agrisilvicultural

An agroforestry system that mixes crops and trees, such as shade systems (like coffee with citrus trees) or border planting.

Agroforestry

Land-use systems and technologies in which woody perennials (e.g. trees, shrubs, palms or bamboos) and agricultural crops or animals are used deliberately on the same parcel of land in some form of spatial and temporal arrangement. . Agroforestry practices, whether agrisilvicultural, silvopastoral or agrosilvopastoral, should include a subsistence or medicinal component.

Agrosilvopastoral

An agroforestry system that integrates trees, crops and animals, such as home gardens involving animals or woody hedges grown for fodder.

Baseline scenario

The most likely future scenario for land use and land management in a project area in the absence of project intervention(s).

Belowground biomass

The total mass of living matter below the ground is expressed as dry weight.

Buffer Pool

Holds carbon credits that are left unsold as insurance against the risks of non-delivery and reversal of Carbon Benefits. Projects shall set aside carbon benefits to the buffer pool for the duration of the project to cover unforeseen premature loss of carbon stock.

Carbon baseline

Reflects the total carbon stock before the start of a project intervention.

Carbon benefit

An increase in carbon stock relative to the carbon baseline as a result of a project intervention.

Carbon pool

A system that can store and/or accumulate carbon.

Carbon stock

The quantity of carbon in a carbon pool.

Confidence interval

A type of estimate derived from the observed data gives the probability with which the estimated interval will contain the true value of the parameter. It is a combination of the critical values.

Crediting period

The period in which carbon removals from the project intervention will be claimed.

Critical value

A factor is used to compute the margin of error. It is the value that splits the probability of availability or rejection region, which includes or excludes the targeted value in an interval.

Diameter at breast height (DBH)

The measurement of the diameter of a tree at the height of 1.3 meters. For this methodology’s purposes, DBH is measured in centimeters.

Ecoregion

A large area of land and/or water, ecologically and geographically characterized by distinct ecosystems, flora, and fauna. Following the “terrestrial scheme” defined by the WWF3, which splits the world’s land surface into 867 ecoregions.

Ground truth measurement

The manual measurement and counting of trees in a specific sample plot of land.

Heavy machinery

Machinery, such as tractors, that does not comply with regenerative agriculture due to high emissions and significant use of non-renewable energy, excluding necessary hand-operated machinery, such as chainsaws, that also require non-renewable energy.

Land property

An entire land property of the farmer (including roads, buildings, timber lots, etc.).

Leakage

An unintended reduction in carbon stocks or increase in t CO2eq emissions outside a project area, as a result of project activities.

Native species

Plant or animal species that occur naturally within the project area and was not introduced as a result of human activity.

Naturalized species

A non-native species that reproduce consistently and sustains populations over more than one life cycle without direct human intervention.

Non-tree biomass

All non-woody living perennial biomass.

Plot

A discrete area of a smallholder’s property within which one or more project intervention(s) is applied, excluding roads, buildings etc. Plots are defined by polygons and can have an extent between 0.1 ha and 10 ha.

Project area

The total area that project interventions are applied to within a project region. A project will include many individual plots of 0.1 to 10 ha in size, which combined make up the total project area of the project.

Project intervention

A set of agroforestry activities designed based on scientific and local expertise to restore or improve management of land, increase carbon storage or reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which has a positive impact on local livelihoods and ecosystems.

Sample plot

An area of a maximum of 1 ha within a plot, in which trees are measured to estimate the groundtruth measurement of biomass for models.

Sample subplot

A sample subplot is a 25x25m area located within the sample plot. Established to make groundtruth measurement of biomass easier to execute.

Silvopastoral

An agroforestry system that combines trees and animals, such as cattle grazing in coconut groves.

Soil disturbance

Are referring to activities that result in a decrease in soil organic carbon e.g. ploughing, ripping, scarification, digging of pits and trenches, stump removal etc.

Stratum

By default, this methodology defines a stratum based on a specific ecoregion. Where necessary, further stratification can be done, e.g. based upon variety in pre-project tree biomass or project activities. Sampling only takes place at the stratum (ecoregion) level and is not required on all plots in the project area.

Synthetic fertilizer

Chemically derived fertilizer that is manufactured from minerals, natural gasses and inorganic waste materials.

Tree

A woody perennial biomass that exceeds 2m in height or more than 2.5cm DBH.