Nature Conservation Standard is a mechanism for establishing and monitoring the value of
ecosystem services, taking into consideration socio-economic conditions in the vicinity of protected
resources, thereby contributing to SDGs 1, 10, 13, 15 and 17.

The Standard needs updating, in order to establish the framework for a new asset class at the NYSE
and bring conservation credits to the stock market.

Introduction

The basic idea of the ENGO is that the protection of nature has opportunity costs not only for the
landowner, but also for the land users. Worldwide, poverty is a – if not the – driver of land
degradation. Therefore, revenues from ENGO conservation projects are channeled in equal parts to
the landowner and to the “commercial buffer zone”, as defined in the ENGO methodology, with the
purpose of fostering rural development in the landscapes that includes the protected areas. The
revenues accrue on an annual basis, as long as the resource remains protected. This methodology is
complementary to nature-based carbon offset projects, but in itself does not require additionality
or any counterfactual baseline scenario.
This system is available worldwide, and several projects from other world regions were already- 2 –
submitted, but so far implementation has only succeeded in Costa Rica. In Costa Rica, currently 6 of
11 Conservation Areas (regional divisions administered by the National System of Conservation
Areas SINAC, a subdivision of the Ministry of the Environment) are under umbrella contract with
the ENGO, one more is currently in the process of submission. These contracts span over the
protected state and private areas within the whole respective territorial unit. These are 3-way long-
term contracts between SINAC, the respective local NGO and the ENGO. Below the umbrellas, there
are currently a few ongoing projects, but the remaining potential is huge, and transaction costs for
the establishment of new projects under an existing umbrella are kept to a minimum. There is
interest by SINAC, the state conservation agency, to extend the ENGO system over the whole
country.

Project description
After 12 years of operation, some parts of the methodology need updating.
• Umbrella projects were not foreseen in the original methodology,
• Some terminology changes are required, in order to improve the ease of application.
• New asset classes need to be accommodated.

Umbrella projects allow for regional coverage, whereby the local NGO is responsible for correct
implementation, so that field trips of international experts are not required for small-scale projects.

Terminology: The current Standard document is burdened by references to A/R Projects under the
Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol. Also, the ease of understanding and correct
application of some of the Standard’s terms will be improved.

Asset class adaptation: The GCS was a frontrunner in terms of establishing a landscape approach
on conservation and quantification of benefits. The Government of Costa-Rica, in conjunction with
the New York Stock Exchange and the Inter-American Development Bank, is currently launching the
first Natural Asset Company (NAC) to trade their ecosystem service provision through the Intrinsic
Exchange Group (IEG). They consider using Conservation Credit Units, as these are unique
certificates and they can be directly tracked to their origin.

Who will benefit?
ENGO was conceived to make conservation pay for the landowner,
while reducing overall resource pressure through the improvement of socio-economic conditions in
the surrounding landscape.
The project will massively capitalize conservation projects through international environmental
markets and increase ecosystem service markets’ credibility. The first beneficiary will be the
country of Costa Rica in its ongoing efforts to protect its mega-biodiversity.
Sustainable Development Goals affected by the ENGO are
SDG 1: No poverty
SDG 10: Reduced inequalities
SDG 13: Climate action
SDG 15: Life on land
SDG 17: Partnerships

Methodology
Like the initial Standard version, the update will be carried out under a peer-reviewed process. The
Standard documents will be updated by the GCS Technical Panel (TP), a land-use expert panel for
project review and approval. The currently six TP members have been accompanying the Standard
since its inception. After that, a list of approximately 20 peer reviewers from academy and land use
practice will be offered a one-day fee each for commenting the draft. These will include reviewers
from the Costa-Rican Consortium Trasforma-Inova, who assists the country in implementing its
NAMA strategy. Also, our project partners will contribute to the development of the new Standard
version.
The final version of the Standard will be put together by the ENGO Secretariat, taking into account
the reviewer comments received, and approved by the TP.

The new Standard version will be deposited in the ENGO third-party registry. It will be fully downward
compatible to all existing ENGO projects. The communication strategy includes an update of the ENGO
website. The ENGO also aims to hold a Side Event at the UNFCCC COP 28 in the UAE in December 2023.