Savimbo Biodiversity Credits (MRV)

Our impact credit uses the same unit and methodology as our certified credits. All credits have full measurement, reporting, and verification. They all have full topography and ground-vetted attestations for land control. But they are sold by Indigenous groups and smallfarmers that are excluded from the market because of structural inequity. Either they don’t have full land title, or the land titles they do have can’t be corrected.

In most cases, the sellers of these credits have land tenure, or hunting rights. We think they deserve to be rewarded for protecting rare species. We hope you do too.

This uncertified biodiversity credit breaks market rules for all the right reasons. Same methodology, and full measurement, reporting, and verification as our certified biodiversity credits. But this credit is not certifying because of unfair land rights access for Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

You want double impact, equity AND biodiversity, this is your credit.

Who we are

Savimbo is a company created by, and for, Indigenous smallfarmers in the Colombian Amazon. 

Our aim is to employ 1 billion Indigenous Peoples and local communities in 10 years to restore the planet. 

Credit stock

Our current stock of 400k biodiversity credits is from a 76,500 hectare collective, located in the Tropical Andean biodiversity hotspot: 

• - This land is managed by a collective consisting of over 250 Indigenous smallholder farmers and four Indigenous groups

• - Species monitoring is conducted for around a year, with indicator species tracked and pre-validated through iNaturalist, before credits are generated

• - The smallholder farmers have signed 30-year conservation contracts that include a 50% revenue share from credit sales

And we’re adding to this stock too!

• - We’re working with more than 12 Indigenous groups across nine countries

• - These areas are located in either biodiversity hotspots or IUCN-threatened ecosystems

• - We’re expecting to generate 178 million credits for the global conservation market over the next five years

What is a biodiversity credit?

We can assess the health of a biodiverse ecosystem by tracking the health of the species at the top of the food chain (typically known as the apex predator). One hectare of an ecosystem protected for a full month constitutes one biodiversity unit. 

Once the data behind this has been collected and verified, and the ecological integrity has been measured, a credit can be issued. In our case, this is based on video evidence of an apex predator or rare species. 

You can find more information on the biodiversity unit and why it's important for global tracking here. 

How much of this revenue goes to locals?

We’re glad you asked because this is important to us too. 

• - 50% of biodiversity revenue goes to the originating landowner. 

• - Of the remaining 50%, 2/3 goes to local indigenous leaders, 1/6 goes to local experts and growers involved in building Savimbo, and the remaining amount covers our operating costs

How do you track impact?

We use an indicator-species biodiversity methodology written by, and for, Indigenous groups in rare ecosystems - and translated to markets using applied chaos theory. 

This provides a simplified framework that protects resilient ecosystems. Central to the methodology is direct payment to indigenous people and local communities, who are the on-the-ground land guardians.

Read this for more information.