What is Native’s ABC Methodology?

When it comes to protecting and restoring nature, traditional carbon markets have often focused narrowly on carbon sequestration, overlooking (or at best undervaluing) the complex web of human and non-human life these habitats support. Native recognizes that to foster genuine and lasting ecological restoration, it's imperative to adopt a holistic approach that values nature in its entirety. This philosophy is embodied in Native's innovative ABC methodology, which integrates Additionality, Biodiversity, and Community impact metrics into conservation efforts.

Even the recent momentum around the importance of biodiversity, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the nascent field of biodiversity credits, while a welcome broadening of focus beyond carbon, has struggled with a serious lack of consensus around the best way to measure and monitor biodiversity and the best definition of what a biodiversity credit actually means.

Many valuable nature-based projects struggle to receive funding because there is no universal consensus on the best methodologies for measuring biodiversity, nor indeed the definition of the unit or credit which these methodologies prove out. Since many of these techniques are still being pioneered and experts continue to debate the most effective ways to capture biodiversity data, this uncertainty often becomes a barrier that delays or even prevents investment. While stakeholders deliberate over methodologies, crucial conservation efforts remain underfunded.

Native’s ABC methodology goes beyond carbon to assess the true value of each Square. It’s designed to be iterative; always improving as the science improves. The unit we are selling is not a biodiversity credit or a carbon credit but the environmental rights to a 3m² area of nature. We offer ABC scores for what’s contained within those Squares but these scores will always be provisional. Unlike a biodiversity credit or a carbon credit which requires certainty up front on the methodology used to quantify impact, we have the flexibility to assign provisional ABC scores and sell Squares without aligning ourselves to one or other methodology, and then refine and improve as we go. Then as consensus emerges around best practice, we can align the data we gather and the ABC scores we present to match, potentially issuing credits ex-post. As the holder of the environmental rights to Squares for 40 years from the point of purchase, Square holders will be the exclusive owner of those credits.

This ensures that conservation funding can flow to where it is needed most, without being stalled by technical debates.

Moving Beyond Carbon: A Holistic Valuation of Nature

Carbon is just one piece of a much larger puzzle. True sustainability requires a more comprehensive approach—one that values nature in its entirety. Native’s methodology reflects this principle, going beyond carbon sequestration to include biodiversity restoration and community well-being. By embedding these critical components into our projects, we ensure that climate action is effective, ethical, and regenerative.

The ABC Methodology Explained

Our community methodology tracks social impact metrics including indigenous participation and inclusion, gender participation and inclusion, education and healthcare outcomes and other metrics tied to the UN SDGs.

A: Additionality

Additionality is an important component of evaluating impact, but it is not the only metric that matters. While some projects will have higher additionality than others, there are plenty of impactful projects where additionality is ambiguous or hard to prove which are equally deserving of financing. Placing too much emphasis on additionality can unfairly penalize valuable nature-based projects where proving additionality is more challenging—such as protecting intact ecosystems—and may even disincentivize national governments from implementing legal protections for critical habitats since some mainstream accreditors deem that legal protection precludes additionality.

At Native, we take a balanced approach. In our first project we applied rigorous validation techniques, leveraging assessment methods developed by the Cambridge Centre for Carbon Credits and their affiliated organisation Canopy/PACT, to ensure that projects deliver genuine additionality. Their methodology is industry-leading in terms of rigour and includes leakage estimates as high as 50%. But we also offer statistics for in-situ carbon, recognising that keeping these precious places intact is at least as important, if not more, than demonstrating uplift. By broadening the conversation around additionality, we ensure that high-integrity conservation efforts receive the funding they need, regardless of their classification.

B: Biodiversity

Nature is so much more than just a carbon sink. Our approach to biodiversity protection is rooted in science and designed to deliver measurable, long-term ecological benefits. However best practice and consensus is still emerging, both in terms of how raw data is gathered and in terms of the unit or credit which these methodologies ultimately spit out. In the case of carbon the unit or credit is a tonne of carbon, and the debate then centres around which methodologies are best for proving that an additional tonne of carbon has indeed been sequestered. For biodiversity it’s still not clear the best definition of the actual unit or credit is. Some organisations focus on uplift, such as a “1% net uplift across a hectare”, while others prioritise the value of keeping fully intact ecosystems protected. Savimbo’s biodiversity unit is one promising, interoperable approach which Native is looking at closely. In the case of our first project which involves protecting standing rainforest we track a basket of metrics including that reflect the health and integrity of an ecosystem. These include:

• Ecosystem Integrity – How well an ecosystem functions and remains resilient to external stressors.
• Flora and Fauna Richness – A count of the number of species within the project area.
• Flora and Fauna Endemism – The % of these species which are endemic to the region.
• IUCN Red List Status – Monitoring and improving the conditions of species that are threatened or endangered.
• Key Biodiversity Area – Is the project within a Key Biodiversity Area or other legally designated area such as an Important Bird Area or a Marine Protected Area?

There are further indicators which we are likely to start tracking within the project, and indeed different types of indicators which will be necessary as we broaden to include different ecosystems including:

• The Prevalence of Haplotypes in eDNA data - This is an indicator of the stability and health of the ecosystems since it indicates that species are breeding and evolving regularly.
• Keystone Species Count - Using camera traps to indicate the presence and frequency of keystone species and top predators is a good indicator of the complexity and integrity of the ecosystem.
• Habitat Connectivity – Understanding the extent to which the project is a corridor for wildlife movement and reducing habitat fragmentation.
• Soil and Water Health – Tracking improvements in soil fertility and water purity as key indicators of ecological restoration.
• Pollinator Abundance – Measuring the prevalence of species that drive ecosystem functions, such as bees and butterflies.

This list is not exhaustive and there will be other indicators which are project and habitat specific which we are yet to consider. We are actively refining our approach through ongoing dialogue with bioacoustics and eDNA companies and leading marine biodiversity scientists. By integrating cutting-edge technology and expert insights, we continuously enhance our ability to measure and protect biodiversity.

Since the unit we are selling is not a biodiversity credit or a carbon credit but a 3m² area of nature, we have the flexibility to evolve our methodology and refine our measurement techniques over time, without this becoming a barrier.

C: Community

Central to Native’s philosophy is the insight that humans are not separate from Nature but part of it. We emerged out of nature in the same way an apple emerges out of a tree or a wave emerges out of the ocean. As such, any approach to protecting nature that does not put communities at its heart is likely to fail. Native’s commitment to community impact goes beyond financial investment—it’s about meaningful engagement, collaboration, and long-term social benefits. Our projects are evaluated using key social impact metrics, ensuring that they provide tangible improvements in people’s lives.

We ask the critical questions:

• To what extent have local communities been consulted and included in decision-making?
• To what extent have women been consulted and included in decision-making?
• To what extent does the project increase the climate resilience of local communities e.g. by protecting them against coastal erosion or flooding?
• How does this project enhance livelihoods, education, and healthcare?
• What long-term economic opportunities does this investment create?

By embedding community engagement into our model, we move beyond transactional carbon offsets and toward projects that foster genuine prosperity. Whether through job creation, education initiatives, or improved healthcare access, our approach ensures that conservation efforts support the people who depend on these ecosystems and vice versa.

Setting a New Standard for Sustainability

At Native, we believe that environmental and social impact should never be viewed in isolation. By integrating Additionality, Biodiversity, and Community into every project, we go beyond traditional carbon markets to create solutions that are holistic, ethical, and built for the future. Our ABC Methodology isn’t just about measuring impact—it’s about redefining what effective environmental and social action looks like.

If we’re going to take the dangerous step of turning nature into capital and carbon and biodiversity into markets then we need an approach which reflects nature’s complexity and subtlety instead of forcing it into a binary straitjacket.The beauty and majesty of nature demands more than the reductionist approach which dominates mainstream carbon markets. At Native, we are leading the way.