Our certification

Unlocking the international voluntary carbon market for smallholder farmers by streamlining the certification activities as a program.

Our agroforestry projects are certified with Plan Vivo, an independent certification body that specializes in smallholder forestry projects. As a leading certifier in community land-use projects, they work with us to ensure our projects are truly benefiting farmers, their land, and the environment.

How we make certification more accessible

To successfully certify a project and the CRUs generated, each project undergoes a thorough initial assessment to measure eligibility and additionality, alongside collecting a range of baseline data.

We recognize, however, that certification is not always easy for project coordinators or accessible for smallholder farmers. So we've made our certification process as straightforward as possible: our framework and methodology keep the certification process accessible and transparent, while reducing the costs and lead times of certification significantly. For example, we define and monitor only a few impact indicators (local livelihood, carbon storage, and environmental improvement).

Our framework and methodology

Our certification approach and the requirements that projects must adhere to are described in the Acorn Framework.

> Download the Acorn Framework v1.0 here

The complementary Acorn Methodology describes the processes involved when measuring and calculating CRUs. The Methodology has been externally assessed and approved by the Plan Vivo Foundation and an accredited validation and verification body: AENOR.

> Download the Acorn Methodology v1.0 here

The Sampling Approach and Program Certification document details the certifier-approved sampling approach and processes Acorn follows to confirm the veracity of its projects and program

> Download the Sampling Approach and Program Certification here

Currently under review

The following documents are drafts of our new framework and methodology. All documents are currently under review by Plan Vivo.

The Acorn Framework for Voluntary, Ex-Post, Agroforestry Carbon Removal Units v2.0
The Acorn Glossary v1.0
The Acorn Methodology for Quantifying Carbon Benefits from Small-scale Agroforestry v2.0
AM-002 Tool for Assessment of Historic Deforestation on Small-scale Agroforestry v1.0
AM-003 Module for Ground Truth Sampling v1.0
AM-004 Module for Model Development, Calibration, Validation and Application v1.0
AM-005 Module for Determining Adjustment Factor for Change in Pre-project Tree Biomass in Small-scale Agroforestry v1.0
AM-006 Module for Performing Leakage Assessment of Carbon Benefits on Small-scale Agroforestry v1.0
AM-007 Module for Estimating Uncertainty of Carbon Benefits from Small-scale Agroforestry v1.0
AM-008 Module for Performing Partial Felling and Harvesting Estimation of Carbon Benefits on Small-scale Agroforestry v1.0
AM-009 Module for Estimating Contributions of Small-scale Agroforestry to Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration v1.0
AM-010 Module for Estimating Emissions from Livestock and Manure Decomposition for Small-scale Agroforestry v1.0

Inactive

The following documents are no longer active framework and/or methodology.

Acorn Methodology v1.1

Why validation and verification are important

Validation and verification are critical to ensure the credibility and effectiveness of our projects. Validation is the initial assessment to confirm a project's design and expected outcomes, while verification measures and evaluates the actual results post-implementation. These processes provide transparency and accountability to help ensure our projects deliver real climate and community benefits. By adhering to rigorous standards, we can build trust with farmers, partners and buyers.

Currently, every Acorn project is initially validated and verified before sold Carbon Removal Units can be retired. Once validated and verified Carbon Removal Units will be retired immediately.

For more detailed information, you can refer to our FAQ on validation and verification assessments.