In this article, you will find definitions of terms that TerraFund partners and restoration champions may use related to monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) for TerraFund projects.
A set of nonspatial information describing a specific piece of geospatial data that includes its associated target land use system, restoration practice (or practices), tree distribution, and dates of planting.
Direct beneficiary: a person receiving immediate and tangible value from a project, likely in support of their livelihood and wellbeing. Direct beneficiaries might receive food, agricultural products, seedlings, or access to savings and loans.For the purposes of project reporting, direct recipients of benefits include only the direct individual recipients, so the number of local community members directly receiving benefits should be straightforward to estimate. This differs from jobs and those with increased skills and knowledge, which are tracked separately from benefits.
Indirect beneficiary: a person receiving downstream value from a project's restoration work (intentionally or unintentionally). This could include community members who benefit indirectly from restoration efforts - for example through improved soil or water quality - or members of the households or communities of the individuals included in the "direct beneficiaries" tally.
A project comprised of fewer than 50 restoration areas, with the average size of each area being greater than three hectares.
A project comprised of more than 50 restoration areas, with the average size of each area being less than three hectares.
A person above the age of 18, that is compensated for work done within the project. they can either be full-time or parttime employee. A full-time employee is someone who is regularly paid for their work on the project and works 35 or more hours per week throughout the year. A part-time employee is someone who is regularly paid for their work on the project but works less that 3 months of their time and/or works fewer than 35 hours per week throughout the year; this includes seasonal, temporary, and casual workers who work less than 35 hours/week
A report specifically for nonprofits to detail their expenses and budget spend-down.
An annual report submitted by developers to provide information on an organization’s operating budget, revenue, liquidity, audited financial statements, and other financial information. Financial reports differ slightly between nonprofits and for-profits.
An app through which project developers collect geospatial location data of each restoration area. Once restoration work has begun, preferably on the same day as planting, restoration project developers use the app to collect polygons or Global Positioning System (GPS) points representing the locations where trees have been planted. All collected data will be automatically uploaded to the Greenhouse cloud-based platform where project developers can visualize, edit, and download collected data. Then the polygons are taken off Greenhouse, quality assured, and uploaded by the TerraFund team to a project developer’s TerraMatch profile.
Highly accurate data TerraFund project developers collect for each area where they are restoring land with TerraFund. The data take the form of GPS points, lines, or polygons denoting the areas covered by project efforts.
“A quantitative or qualitative factor or variable that provides a . . . means to measure achievement, to reflect the changes connected to an intervention, or to help assess the performance of a development actor” (Parsons et al. 2013).
TerraFund's indicators are: 1) Tree restoration 2) Land restoration 3) Jobs created 4) livelihood benefits 5)financial health and performance 6)community engagement 7)carbon sequestration 8) inclusive finance 9) market access
Defined as a person aged 15 years or older who has worked for pay, profit, or benefit for at least one hour during a given week, as defined by the International Labor Organization (ILO).
Activity or activities pursued to make a living using one’s capabilities and assets (physical, natural, human, social, financial).
This are activities, within local communities, to strengthen the permance and impact of ecosystem restoration efforts. These activities help communities adopt complementary practices that deliver short-term and long-term benefits within restoration sites
People and households living in the surrounding areas of a restoration project who will be affected by restoration activities, and/or who are affected by the challenges restoration activities aim to address.
A “continuing process that involves the systematic collection or collation of data on specified indicators or other types of information” (OECD 2024). The function of monitoring is to show progress and achievements, signal when adjustments to programs and approaches are required, and demonstrate use of funds (OECD 2024). Terrafund's monitoring framework comprises 34 indicators across 9 categories, including numerous biophysical and socioeocononmic project impact categories, and inclusive finance and market access.
A profile representing a nursery that the restoration project developer operates as part of its TerraFund project. On TerraMatch, each project profile has one or more nursery profiles associated with it. The number of nursery profiles required for each project will depend on its characteristics; project developers do not have to create a nursery profile if they do not operate their own nurseries or if their project design sources trees from existing or available nurseries instead.
A report containing information about the number of seedlings in the nursery at a given time, broken down by species, along with any written narratives and photos of progress. Restoration project developers must submit a report every six months for each of their nursery profiles. Organizations can indicate if they have nothing to report about a nursery when submitting a report.
Coordinates that form a closed shape that shows the boundaries where active restoration is happening.
On TerraMatch, each restoration champion has a project profile for each of their TerraFund projects. This includes narrative information about the project, a summary dashboard of numerical targets and progress toward them, and access to photos and past reports.
An overview report of project progress that restoration project developers submit biannually, by January 31 and July 31 of each year, including narrative questions about the challenges faced and overcome and numerical information about the number of jobs created and people benefited.
The automated and manual validation and cleaning of TerraFund projects’ polygon in TerraMatch to ensure accuracy and to avoid, eliminate, and rectify errors (Shen 2023). Polygon QA is synonymous with the land verification process.
The system of checks, quality controls, assessments, and improvements used by portfolio managers to ensure accurate, complete, and consistent self-reported data from project developers (EPA 2019, 2000; ISO 2015)
Refers to the collection and sharing of project progress data by TerraFund champions. Funded projects must report every 6 months on their over-all project progress as well as any nurseries and sites associated with their project; they also report annually on project expenses and organization-level financial information; and they report in near-real-time on any major disturbances that may impact their project. TerraFund’s project managers and portfolio specialists assess the quality of the reported data, and may request additional clarification from champions if needed before officially approving reports. WRI analyzes the data and aggregates it to share with funders and the public. Reports are submitted and quality-assured on TerraMatch.
The direct techniques for growing and restoring trees. The approved options for restoration practices are tree planting, assisted natural regeneration, and direct seeding.
The one or more profiles that comprise a TerraMatch project profile, with the number depending on the project design. Sites are the base unit for reporting, with each site profile needing reports generated to fill its profile.
A report containing information on any progress at a given site, including trees planted by species, ANR work, boundary changes, disturbances, maintenance, monitoring, survival rate/replanting, and photo/video uploads.
The intended use for project land after the six-year project term, distinct from land use at the start. The approved options for target land use are agroforest, open natural ecosystem, natural forest, peatland, riparian area or wetland, silvopasture, urban forest, and woodlot or plantation.
TerraFund’s integrated online, two-way platform used for data management, project application, technical support, reporting, analysis, verification, and visualization through the TerraMatch dashboard.
A public-facing platform for sharing TerraFund data at the project, cohort, and landscape level as well as in aggregate. Specific project details (including location) are not shared with the general public here; only users who are already associated with your project on TerraMatch can see project specifics.
A woody vegetation either greater than five meters in height regardless of canopy diameter or between three and five meters in height with a canopy diameter of at least five meters. This definition excludes tall herbaceous vegetation like sugarcane, bananas, and cacti as well as short woody crops like tea and coffee.
The way trees will be spread throughout the site after restoration work has concluded. Trees can cover either an entire restoration area (full coverage) or part of the area (partial coverage), or they can be planted in single row (single line).
The number of seedlings or saplings directly planted by the agents of a TerraFund project.
The number of trees that survive six years after the start of the project. TerraFund derives this number of “trees restored” by comparing the reported number of trees planted or naturally regenerated to the number of trees that independent satellite data can verify.
Verification is the process of ensuring the quality, accuracy, and reliability of reported data. Three processes fall under the umbrella of verification: independent verification, validation, and quality assurance.
An individual who freely dedicates their time to the project because they see value in doing so but who does not receive payment for their work. Volunteers must work directly on the project. Paid workers or beneficiaries who do not dedicate their time to the project are not considered volunteers.
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