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“Piloting” Metrics for Biodiversity Credits in Longleaf Pine Forests

BY KHANH TON

In May 2025, two timberland investment companies made history by selling the first biodiversity credits ever sold in the U.S.1 Rather than receiving payments for timber or carbon storage, the companies were compensated for restoring longleaf pine forests. An emerging market of biodiversity credits may provide a new means of support for important restoration work in longleaf pine; however, it currently lacks a solid foundation in governance and benchmarking, which are essential to market integrity and efficiency. Since 2023, The Jones Center at Ichauway’s Landscape Ecology Lab has been contributing to efforts with other partners to explore whether biodiversity crediting programs are a possible path to support more widespread restoration efforts for longleaf pine ecosystems. More specifically, the Lab is pioneering a streamlined protocol to monitor vegetation characteristics that is more cost-effective and accessible to landowners than traditional forestry inventory approaches. But first, let’s take a step back to assess the concept and current state of biodiversity credit systems around the globe, and how they can inform the future market of Southeastern U.S. ecosystems. What is a biodiversity credit? And who would buy them?

What are biodiversity credits?

Biodiversity credits provide a means for private companies or individuals who wish to protect and enhance biodiversity to support organizations that can actually implement it.2 A biodiversity credit represents an area of land conserved over a specified timeframe. Biodiversity credit programs usually aim to foster outcomes geared toward land protection, stewardship, regeneration, and adaptation to changing climates.3 While still nascent in the U.S., biodiversity projects have been occurring worldwide. For example, in 2024, a South American project worked with local landowners in Colombia’s cloud forests to sell credits worth over $14,000 per acre of land managed for 30 years.4 The work is split 80-20 between preservation and restoration, starting with an immediate halt of commercial activities, followed by nursery building on the site within the first year, and tree planting shortly after. To sell biodiversity credits, the effort must produce ecological benefits that are additional and durable, meaning the increases in biodiversity would not have occurred otherwise and are expected to last beyond the project timeline.5 To verify that benefits are additional and durable, biodiversity credits are regulated by third-party organizations—typically a government agency—that sets standards for measurement, reporting, and verification of the planned ecological benefits. This means that ecological monitoring and assessment must be made to confirm a project’s credibility and integrity. 

The case for biodiversity credits

Earth’s ecosystems are immensely important to the global economy, but funding to protect them falls far short of what is needed. It is estimated that ecosystem services account for over 50% of the global GDP, equivalent to $44 trillion in 2020.6 Some of the most economically important ecosystem services are the provisioning of crops, timber, water, outdoor recreation, and carbon sequestration.7 However, these services are not guaranteed to persist as biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse are projected to accelerate globally over the next decade.8 Furthermore, we are facing a biodiversity financing gap of approximately $700 billion annually, which is needed to effectively tackle these risks.9 It is widely held that creative financial strategies that encourage private investments in biodiversity are needed to address conservation issues at a global scale.10

The gopher tortoise is a keystone species associated with the longleaf pine ecosystem.
Fortunately, the private sector seems to agree with this imperative and has increasingly shown interest in biodiversity investments. Companies feel pressure to communicate their ecological impacts and reliance on nature to stakeholders11 and believe that the willingness to transition towards a “nature-positive” economy is good for business.12 Moreover, investing in biodiversity helps support the people who are at the frontline of nature stewardship. Payments from biodiversity credit projects can be an income source for local communities that choose to conserve ecosystems. Their efforts, in turn, ensure their ecosystems’ functionality and continuous access to important ecosystem services.13

The current landscape

Compared to markets for carbon sequestration, the market for biodiversity credits is still in its infancy. There is still some doubt cast on its ability to truly realize biodiversity gains.14 While some lessons from the carbon market can be applied to develop biodiversity crediting programs, there are fundamental differences between the two. For instance, measuring and monetizing the improvement of ecosystem health is far more nuanced and multifaceted than estimating carbon storage.15 There are difficulties associated with defining the ecological baselines for species diversity and ecosystem function that are needed to ensure a restoration project is responsible for any biodiversity gains. 16
Despite the challenges, the market continues to grow. In the past three years, up to $1.9 million in biodiversity credits have been sold worldwide17by over 30 pilot projects in both the voluntary and private sectors, spanning more than 15 ecosystems.18 The governments of Australia19 and New Zealand20 are making the most substantive progress, but other countries across the globe, including India21 and Scotland,22 are making headway. In addition, well-known certification bodies for carbon markets including Plan Vivo, Verra, and Cercabono are codifying protocols and standards for measuring biodiversity credits that are akin to their previous strategies for carbon.23 These initiatives are in different stages of credit development, whether it be building relationships with stakeholders, developing methodologies, researching market demand and supply, or securing seed funding. 
Intense row crop agricultural abuts an abrupt transition to a longleaf pine woodland.

The emerging market in the southeastern United States

Despite the remaining challenges, biodiversity credit programs are beginning to take hold in the US. Longleaf pine ecosystems are on the frontier of this development, meaning that standards for efficient biodiversity monitoring are needed.

The landmark May 2025 voluntary biodiversity agreement in the US will result in Qarlbo Biodiversity generating credits on behalf of 6M Properties, LLC, on over 10,000 acres in Merryville, Louisiana, a locale known for its vast commercial timberland.24 The project will replace fast-growing, high-value slash pines with native longleaf pine ecosystems. This initial project signals budding demand and supply for a biodiversity credit market in the Southeast. The region is uniquely positioned to benefit from the market due to its historical and ongoing investment in timberland as well as its rich terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity.25 Housing 41% of total forested lands in the country, the 13 Southern states are responsible for more than half of the nation’s timber production.26 Furthermore, most Southern timberland is privately owned and a third of it is in pine production.27 A regional market for biodiversity credits, especially one with a specific focus on restoring longleaf pine ecosystems, will allow for sustainable timber production and support a broader range of ecological benefits, enabling landowners to generate income while also making measurable biodiversity gains. 

The Jones Center at Ichauway’s involvement

One key challenge of biodiversity credit programs is to develop monitoring programs that are thorough enough to capture complex ecological change, but simple enough to be cost effective at a large scale. The Jones Center at Ichauway’s Landscape Ecology Lab is working with partners from the Longleaf Alliance, Milliken Advisors, and universities to develop cost-effective biodiversity monitoring protocols in longleaf pine ecosystems for wildlife, plant diversity, and vegetation characteristics. High quality longleaf pine woodlands are often characterized by low canopy cover, presence of mature trees and multi-age structure, and high components of understory cover in grasses. Measuring these vegetation characteristics traditionally relies on costly and time-consuming field labor by ecologists experienced with the diverse ecosystem. However, our lab hopes to streamline the process of evaluating this component of biodiversity by adopting remote sensing techniques utilizing drones and terrestrial lidar. By combining high resolution data on forest structure and field-based verification, we hope to build a standardized system to make biodiversity credits more accessible to small landowners. 
The pilot program will be implemented on private land, using a voluntary protocol. Landowners will have the option to select from several restoration pathways, such as afforestation or stand management. Throughout this process, we will also identify and address potential barriers—financial, social, or cultural—that could prevent landowner participation. This pilot marks a significant step towards creating a sustainable, market-driven solution for conservation that simultaneously provides landowners with a viable financial incentive while contributing to regional goals outlined in the “Range-wide Conservation Plan for Longleaf Pine (2025-2040)” by the America’s Longleaf Restoration Initiative.28 Ultimately, we wish to stimulate and advance southeastern biodiversity credit market development, foster public support and private sector engagement, and establish a framework that can be replicated and applied to other ecosystems across North America.

Media Contact

Rachel McGuire | The Jones Center at Ichauway, Outreach & Education Coordinator | rem@jonesctr.org  

Expert Contacts

Jeffery B. Cannon, PhD | The Jones Center at Ichauway, Landscape Ecologist | jeffery.cannon@jonesctr.org  

Khanh Ton | The Jones Center at Ichauway, Geospatial Analyst | khanh.ton@jonesctr.org  

References

1  24 Qarlbo Biodiversity. “Qarlbo Biodiversity Sells First-Ever Voluntary Biodiversity Credits in the US.” Qarlbo Biodiversity, May 14, 2025. https://www.qarlbobiodiversity.com/newsroom/qarlbo-biodiversity-sells-first-ever-voluntary-biodiversity-credits-in-the-u-s.

2 Gray, Cherie, and Akanksha Khatri. “How Biodiversity Credits Can Deliver Benefits for Business, Nature and Local Communities.” World Economic Forum, December 9, 2022. https://www.weforum.org/stories/2022/12/biodiversity-credits-nature-cop15/.

3 11 15 16 17 Waterford, Laura, Veda FitzSimons, and Olivia Back. State of Voluntary Biodiversity Credit Markets. Pollination Foundation, 2023. https://pollinationgroup.com/global-perspectives/state-of-voluntary-biodiversity-credit-markets.

4 Rao, Radhika, Esther Choi, and Roman Czebiniak. “Can ‘Biodiversity Credits’ Boost Conservation?” World Resources Institute, March 12, 2024. https://www.wri.org/insights/biodiversity-credits-explained.

5 Sarmiento, Mariana, and Timothy Male. Definition of a Biodiversity Credit. No. 3. Issue Papers. Biodiversity Credit Alliance, 2024. https://www.biodiversitycreditalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Definition-of-a-Biodiversity-Credit-Rev-220524.pdf.

6 Herweijer, Celine, Will Evison, Samra Mariam, et al. Nature Risk Rising: Why the Crisis Engulfing Nature Matters for Business and the Economy. World Economic Forum, 2020. https://www.weforum.org/publications/nature-risk-rising-why-the-crisis-engulfing-nature-matters-for-business-and-the-economy/.

7 12 13 European Commission. “Roadmap towards Nature Credits.” European Commission, July 7, 2025. https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/14723-Roadmap-towards-Nature-Credits_en.

8 Heading, Sophie, and Saadia Zahidi. The Global Risks Report 2023. World Economic Forum, 2023. https://www.weforum.org/publications/global-risks-report-2023/digest/.

9 10 Convention on Biological Diversity. “Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.” United Nations Environment Programme, December 18, 2022. https://www.cbd.int/doc/decisions/cop-15/cop-15-dec-04-en.pdf.

14 McDonnell, Tim. “Biodiversity Credits Are Slowly Finding a Market.” Semafor, May 22, 2025. https://www.semafor.com/article/05/22/2025/biodiversity-credits-are-slowly-finding-a-market.

18 Zynobia, Emile, Paul Steele, and Anna Ducros. Biocredit Catalogue: A Collection of Biocredit Developers and Schemes. International Institute for Environment and Development, 2023. https://www.iied.org/22201iied.

19 Chauhan, Himanshu. “Australia Launches World’s First Legislated Voluntary Biodiversity Credits Market.” S&P Global, March 4, 2025. https://www.spglobal.com/commodity-insights/en/news-research/latest-news/energy-transition/030425-australia-launches-worlds-first-legislated-voluntary-biodiversity-credits-market.

20 Ministry for the Environment. “Scaling up Voluntary Nature Credits Market Activity in New Zealand.” June 12, 2025. https://environment.govt.nz/publications/scaling-up-voluntary-nature-credits-market-activity-in-new-zealand/.

21 Reklev, Stian. “India to Launch Green Credit Programme to Meet Environmental Goals.” Nature & Biodiversity Pulse, June 28, 2023. https://carbon-pulse.com/209830/.

22 Woolnough, Tom. “UK Company Wins Government Backing to Kickstart Biodiversity Credits in Scotland.” Nature & Biodiversity Pulse, August 14, 2023. https://carbon-pulse.com/216531/.

23 Schenck, Mills, Torsen Kurth, Dean Muruven, et al. Corporate Commitment Meets Nature: The Reality of Biodiversity Credits. Boston Consulting Group, 2024. https://www.bcg.com/publications/2024/the-reality-of-biodiversity-credits.

25 Hamilton, Healy, Regan L. Smyth, Bruce E. Young, et al. “Increasing Taxonomic Diversity and Spatial Resolution Clarifies Opportunities for Protecting US Imperiled Species.” Ecological Applications 32, no. 3 (2022): e2534. https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2534.

26 Brandeis, Consuelo, and Donald G. Hodges. “Forest Sector and Primary Forest Products Industry Contributions to the Economies of the Southern States: 2011 Update.” Journal of Forestry 113, no. 2 (2015): 205–9. https://doi.org/10.5849/jof.14-054.

27 Hartsell, Andrew J., and Roger C. Conner. Forest Area and Conditions: A 2010 Update of Chapter 16 of the Southern Forest Resource Assessment. SRS-GTR-174. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station, 2013. https://doi.org/10.2737/SRS-GTR-174.

28 Bollinger, Ryan, Tim Albritton, Colette DeGarady, et al. “Range-Wide Conservation Plan for Longleaf Pine 2025-2040.” America’s Longleaf Restoration Initiative, October 26, 2023. https://www.americaslongleaf.org/media/bwfpc2ys/conservation-plan-2025-2040.pdf.

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