Design the project zonation

What is a shapefile

A shapefile is a simple, non-topological format for storing the geometric location and attribute information of geographic information. In other words, it is a document that will allow you to record and share your Project’s area and its zonation, allowing ERS to run the necessary certification assessments.

What is a Reference Ecosystem

ERS follows the SER Australasia approach of a Reference Ecosystem, which describes it as an ecosystem that is the target of a restoration project. A Reference Ecosystem represents the non-degraded version of the ecosystem, complete with its flora, fauna (and other biota), functions, processes and successional states that would have existed on the restoration site had degradation, damage or destruction not occurred.

ERS requests the Reference Site to be an actual site that is accessible to the Developer and that has not undergone significant anthropogenic disturbance in the last ten years.

Note that while the Reference Ecosystem is a concept, the Reference Site is the actual physical area.

Refer to the Reference Ecosystem Guidelines for complete information and guidance on the selection of a reference site.

Watch the following video of the Fenner School of Environment & Society of the Australian National University for additional insights on ecological restoration and the use of a reference ecosystem:

What is a zonation

Zonation refers to the process of dividing an area into different zones that have distinct characteristics. Given the distinct characteristics inside a Project Area, such as vegetation biomass, land use, levels of conservation and degradation, different intervention strategies might be needed to drive ecological restoration.

Performing a zonation, serves to group areas with similar characteristics into zones, allowing each zone to receive the most adapted intervention strategy. For detailed orientation on how to perform zonation, refer to the Zonation Guidelines.

Types of zones

The number of zones will depend on the specificities of your Project. However, all zones must fall within one of the following categories:

• Restoration zone: zone(s) that will receive restoration intervention (e.g. active manual planting). All restoration zones combined make up the Restoration Site, when designing the shapefile on the App, mark restoration zones as “Restoration Site”.
• Reference site: the site hosting the selected reference ecosystem, that will serve as a model to guide the Project’s Restoration Plan and its carbon sequestration potential.
• Exclusion zone: zone(s) falling inside the Project Area but that will not receive restoration interventions (e.g. a zone within the Project Area that will be used as a nursery or for subsistence agriculture). Indicating exclusion zones is important so that they are not considered when calculating the carbon sequestration potential.
• Leakage area: zone(s) within the Project Area that will be displaced to new areas (inside or outside of the Project), generating deforestation or degradation to some extent (e.g. one zone that will receive restoration interventions is currently being used for cropping, if this cropping will continue but will be displaced to another zone, ERS requires it to be indicated in the Project’s zonation).
• Leakage displacement area: zone(s) to which leakage activities will be displaced to. In some cases, when a leakage area has been identified it is also possible to determine where the area will be displaced to, which can be inside or outside the Project Area. If during certification this is not known yet, it can be left blank and will be reassessed at a later stage.
• Pre-submission activities: zones that have been subject to tests or activities (e.g. planting or ground preparation) before the Project was submitted for certification to ERS.

Your shapefile must contain at least the Project Area, clearly delimiting its boundaries, one restoration zone, and one reference site.

Generate a shapefile step-by-step

• Record the Project Area (choose one):

1. Import a shapefile into this task and edit using ERS’ map editor (only GeoJSON format can be uploaded in this task; if your file is in KML format, you can use a free online tool to convert the format).
2. Create the shapefile from scratch using the ERS’ map editor available in this task.
3. Use the ERS’ mobile app to facilitate this process. You or someone in your team will go to the field and move along each zone’s boundaries while recording their shapes in the app. If you select this option, notify a Certification Agent and indicate the rough location of the Project in the task “Prepare offline shape-recording” - the Certification Agent will get back to you.
   • If you select this option, watch this tutorial:
   • Pro-tip: If you are recording a large zone, instead of walking, you can do it by using a bike or a vehicle to go around its boundaries.

• Indicate the Project zones in the shapefile
  • If you have imported a file, click on each zone to indicate its attributes (Name, Zone type, etc.). You can use the map editor to add zones that the uploaded map is missing.
  • If you are recording the shapefile directly using the map editor, indicate their attributes directly as you finish recording each zone.
  • If you (or someone in your team) have used the mobile app to record the shapefile, open your submission from the web app and download the file corresponding to the survey. Then import the files into this task and use the map editor to indicate the zone attributes

  • Watch this tutorial:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXjgkAhaImo

Requirements

Ensure to indicate all the required zone attributes of the shapefile before submitting.

When a zone is categorised as a Restoration site, its reference site must be indicated.

Note that when a zone is categorised as a Leakage area you must indicate either the % of leakage (what % of the current activity will be displaced) or the Displacement area, if you have the information, you can enter both.

Which ERS principle(s) is assessed under this task?

Certification Procedures - Project feasibility (V.1.0 Page 25): The Developer must submit a shapefile Project Area and a preliminary zonation following the Zonation Guidelines. The rationale for selecting the Project Area and the zonation must be provided.

The task in the Certification Journey

Click on “Create” in this task to access the map editor and indicate the Project shapefile and its zonation. Once you have finished indicating the entire Project area together with all its zones and their attributes, click on “Mask as completed”