Symbiosis RFP Questionnaire

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2	Symbiosis Reforestation and Agroforestry RFP Questionnaire
3	This spreadhseet provides a list of all questions asked in the Symbiosis RFP, along with the data type(s) requested, data selection options (where relevant), and additional guidance (where provided). This is a read only document, you may want to save or download a local copy. Updated as of December 11, 2024.
4	Note: This is a spreadsheet version of the quesionnaire for reference, all responses should be submitted via the RFP platform
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6	Question ID	Required / Optional	Question	Data Type	Data Selection Options	Additional Guidance	Character Limit

7	1	Required	What is the name of your project?	open ended text	n/a	N/A	100
8	2	Required	Provide a brief description of your project.	open ended text	n/a	Please include the primary goals and desired impact of the project, social and ecological context, summary of planned activities, key stakeholders involved, and expected carbon and beyond carbon impact.	2000
9	3	Required	In what country is your project located?	drop-down	List of countries	Symbiosis is currently only considering projects from countries listed as Level 1-3 on the US State Department's Do Not Travel List. Level 4 countries are not eligible at this time.	N/A
10	4	Required	In what jurisdiction is your project located?	drop-down search	List of jurisdictions based on country selected - will use Mapbox API as it's translatable	N/A
11	5	Required	In what ecoregion or ecosystem is your project located?	open ended text			200
12	6	Required	What registry and methodology are you using to issue credits for this project?	drop-down	Verra’s VM0047 Verra’s VM0047 with ABACUS label Gold Standard AR American Carbon Registry, AR of Degraded Lands Climate Action Reserve Isometric, Reforestation Ecosystem Restoration Standard, M001 Plan Vivo’s P001 Cercarbono Other	Symbiosis requires projects to use a methodology from a registry that is either approved or submitted for review by ICVCM's CCP Assessment Framework (which are listed here). The registry must have been approved by the ICVCM ahead of contracting.	N/A
13	7	Required	What are your planned activities (intervention type) for the project? Select all that apply.	multi-select	1. Active reforestation / restoration 2. Passive reforestation / restoration (assisted natural regeneration) 3. Afforestation 4. Agroforestry 5. Silvopasture	- Active reforestation/restoration is defined as activities that involve direct site preparation and tree planting. - Passive reforestation/restoration is defined as activities that enhance and/or accelerate the recovery of natural and managed forest regeneration. - If your project involves intermediate activities between these two (e.g., applied nucleation), please check both. - Afforestation is defined as the artificial establishment of forests or tree plantations on lands which previously did not supported natural forest ecosystems--defined as woody vegetation with a height of at least 5 meters and a canopy density of at least 20-25% at 30 meters existing until 50 years ago. - Agroforestry and Silvopasture interventions are defined as the establishment (either via passive or active reforestation approaches) of trees and shrubs in combination with crops, livestock, or both within a farm system. These interventioons can include dispersed or intercropped trees (land-sharing), or on-farm agricultural intensification on specific areas to enable reforestation in others (land-sparing). Note that Symbiosis is not accepting afforestation projects.	N/A
14	8	Required	What description best fits your project's goals and main activities?	drop-down	1. Restoration-oriented project: primarily ecological restoration with goal of long term conservation 2. Mixed-use project: ecological restoration and small scale working forest (timber or agroforestry) 3. Mixed-use project: equal mix of restoration and large scale commercial plantation forestry with credits generated from both the restoration and the plantation portions of the project. 4. Production-oriented project: small scale working forest or agroforestry 5. Industrial-oriented project: large commercial scale forestry project	- We define small-scale working forests as properties approximately under 1,000 ha in regions where mill capacity and timber supply chains are non-existent or limited, but where the project is expected to support the development of these supply chains. In this cases, projects must result in mature working forests composed of mostly native species (> 80%), with appropriate species diversity and eveness indices, and managed under uneven-aged silvicutural practices. - We define large scale commercial plantation or forestry project as properties under corporate ownership or properties with corporate timber contracts of approximately > 500 ha that are intensively managed, even-aged, and/or composed of only one or two species.	N/A
15	9	Required	Have you started implementation of project activities? If yes, please provide a brief overview of the project's implementation progress.	drop-down and open ended	1. Yes the project has started implementation 2. No the project has not started implementation	Implementation includes landowner outreach or enrollment, site preparation, seed or seedling procurement, tree planting, or other restoration activities.	500
16	10	Required	What is the stage of the project?	drop-down	1. Project has a registered PDD and at least one issuance complete 2. Project has a registered and validated PDD but has not yet issued credits 3. Project has a registered PDD but has not yet issued credits 4. Project has a draft PDD or advanced feasibility study	Symbiosis is only considering projects that are post-feasibility. For guidance on what should be included in an advanced feability study, please refer to the RFP Readiness Checklist. If your project is pre-feasibility, please refer to our list of pre-feasibility project resources on our website and consider applying to our next RFP!
17	11	Required	Please provide a registry ID number and link to the project's registry page.	open ended	n/a	N/A	500
18	12	Optional	We want to hear about your project's story. What are the most important highlights you want to share with Symbiosis members about your project? What makes your project unique or differentiated? Are there innovations or novel approaches you are using to increase project quality, impact, or scale?	open-ended	n/a	N/A	2000
19	13	Optional	Optional: Upload documents that provide an overview of your project or organization (e.g. brochure or pitch deck).	file upload	n/a	N/A
20	14	Required	A proposal for a 10-year offtake with a pay-on-delivery payment structure is required. Please select any additional longer offtake proposals you would like to submit with a pay-on-delivery payment structure.	multi-select	1. 15 years (2026 - 2040) 2. 20 years (2026 - 2045) 3. 30 years (2026 - 2055)	Symbiosis is seeking minimum 10-year offtakes (for contracts signed in 2025, this means deliveries through 2035), with the possibility of signing longer term contracts where required to unlock financing. If a 10-year offtake is not feasible for your project at any price per CRU, you may leave this table blank and explain below why this is the case.	N/A
21	15	Required	Please fill out the following tables with the details of your pay-on-delivery offtake proposal(s).	table	See platform	Fill out only the years in which the project plans to issue and deliver credits (ideally every 1-3 years). The remaining rows can be blank.	N/A
22	16	Required	Approximately how many hectares of total planting would this offtake support?	numeric			N/A
23	17	Optional	If you are interested in pursuing a partial prepayment option, please fill out the following table to illustrate how partial prepayment would impact average price per CRU for your project.	table	See platform	Symbiosis may consider partial prepayment for projects where it can be catalytic to unlocking larger amounts of outside finance and/or blend down the price per CRU, especially for regions or project types with particularly long payback periods.	N/A
24	18	Required	How do you plan to finance project activities and how does this plan impact the price per CRU proposed? If a signed offtake would reduce your cost of capital or enable you to access financing that would otherwise not be available, please describe.	open-ended text	n/a	Provide as much detail as possible about what source or sources of financing you plan to use for which aspects of the project (for example: philanthropic or international grants, development bank loan, balance sheet funding, project equity, revolving credit facility, etc) as well as the status of financing (already secured, identified but not secured, in conversation, not sure yet). Also describe the role that offtake will play in allowing you to secure funding and/or lower your cost of capital.	500
25	19	Required	Please provide a description of the key drivers of price per CRU for your proposal. If there are uncertainties in your proposed price per CRU that could change in negotiations, please highlight them here.	open-ended text	n/a	We would like to understand what is driving the price per CRU of your project (some examples might include: land acquisition as a large upfront cost that requires substantial financing, conservative carbon removal projections due to dynamic baseline uncertainty or conservative leakage deductions, paying landowners for their true opportunity cost, etc.)	500
26	20	Optional	What is your approach to ensuring you are able to meet the minimum delivery guarantees required by offtakes with Symbiosis members?	open-ended text	n/a	Examples may include some or all of the following: setting aside a portion of CRUs in an internal buffer, providing replacement CRUs from other projects in your portfolio, holding carbon delivery insurance, providing seller security (e.g. letter of credit, parent guaranty, escrow, etc.), among others.	500
27	21	Optional	Any other information we should know about your commercial proposal(s) shared above?	open-ended text	n/a	If there are specific constraints around term length or rationale for requiring prepayment that we should know about, please describe them here.	2000
28	22	Optional	Do you have any additional alternative commercial proposals you would like Symbiosis members to consider?	Select	Yes, No	N/A
29	23	Optional	Please share an overview of your alternative proposal(s) and upload any documents with additional details.	Open-ended and file upload	n/a	N/A	2000
30	24	Required	Please upload your project's primary boundary file for the project.	file upload	n/a	KML format. Clear project boundary for the area supporting the commercial offtake proposal. If all properties or parcels have not yet been identified for the full commercial proposal because the proposal includes multiple years of enrollment/expansion, upload the properties/parcels that have been identified to date. Project boundaries should include any internal zoning areas if available (e.g., passive vs active restoration areas, or public vs. private ownership areas, land already enrolled/acquired versus under negotiation or identified, etc). There should be consistency in the names of these zones between the attribute table of the file and the rest of the documentation presented.
31	25	Optional	Describe what is represented in the boundary file that has been uploaded.	open-ended text	n/a		500
32	26	Optional	Please review the results of the land suitability assessment. Is there additional information, or additional data, you'd like to provide to explain or give feedback on the results? Please use the file upload to share additional data.	file upload and open-ended text	n/a	N/A	1000
33	27	Optional	*Project documents are required for submission. Please refer to the RFP Readiness Checklist for guidance on document uploads. We expect all project developers to submit a project boundary (to be uploaded in Project DMRV Analysis tab) and completed PDD or feasibility study (feasibility study required if PDD is not submitted, optional if PDD is submitted), as well as verification reports, if available ("Primary Documents"). The remaining documents ("Supporting Documents") are also required; they may or may not already be detailed in a project developer’s PDD or feasibility study. If the information below is already covered by your PDD or feasibility study, please extract this information and paste it into a document to upload. If the information is not already included in those documents, it may be submitted as separate new documents. We will accept draft versions of any Supporting Documents.	check box with file upload	Feasibility Study (required if PDD not submitted, optional if PDD submitted) PDD (draft or final form) (if available) Verification reports (if available) Baselining Data and Procedures Carbon Removal Projections Impact Assessment Implementation Plan Adaptive Long-term Management Plan Project Financial Model & Budget Stakeholder engagement & benefit sharing plan MRV Plan		N/A
34	28	Optional	Please upload any additional documents for consideration as part of your submission.	file upload	n/a	N/A	N/A
35	29	Required	What is the project's first year of planting?	year	n/a		N/A
36	30	Optional	What is your estimated, average implementation cost per hectare?	numeric	n/a	N/A	N/A
37	31	Optional	What is the approximate distribution of reforestation/restoration intervention types across your entire project area?	table	See platform	N/A
38	32	Required	Describe the key forest management activities that are planned for the maintenance stage and how will these activities support the long-term durability of the project?	open-ended text	n/a	These should be derived from your Adaptive Long-term Ecosystem or Forest Management Plan. For example, how will the project manage fire risk long-term?	2000
39	33	Optional	Please describe your general implementation timeline, include any past, current, and future activities that are associated with your commercial offer.	open-ended text	n/a	N/A	1000
40	34	Required	What is the total maximum expansion potential for the project by 2030 (in hectares)?	#	# of hectares restored by 2030	Assume that project expansion is NOT limited by offtake and financing, but consider other limiting factors for the project (land eligibility, land enrollment, leakage, seedling supply, labor, etc.)	500
41	35	Required	At this full expansion potential, how many CRUs could the project deliver by 2055?	#	# CRUs delivered by 2055	N/A
42	36	Required	Please briefly describe how the project could achieve this expansion potential. Please focus on what are the main bottlenecks or limitations to scale.	open-ended text	n/a	Examples of bottlenecks may include: seedling or seed supply, enrolling new landowners, identifying suitable planting sites, hiring or training workforce...)	1000
43	37	Required	What types of revenue streams are planned for your project in addition to carbon credits?	multi-select	1. Silviculture (Includes timber management and commercialization) 2. Agroforestry (Timber and/or other forest products) 3. Silvopastoral (Includes livestock grazing and commercialization) 4. Non-timber forest products (Includes resins, fibers, wildlife-based products, etcetera) 5. Tourism 6. Other 7. None, the only revenue is from the sale of carbon credits		N/A
44	38	Required	Please describe the revenue streams and the estimated percentage of revenue expected to come from other revenue streams selected and the carbon credits respectively.	open-ended text	n/a	Revenue is defined as any sources of monetary income that benefit project stakeholders, including landowners, project developers, and any relevant project partner.	1000
45	39	Required	If your project is or will generate other revenue streams, please describe how your project is additional even with non-carbon revenue? What is the role of these other revenue streams in the long-term durability of the project?	open-ended text	n/a	N/A	2000
46	40	Optional	Describe the current land and forest cover distribution of the project area, focusing on the approximate proportions of forest age classes and types.	open-ended text	n/a	N/A	2000
47	41	Required	Please briefly describe the historical and current land-uses in the area, including any cultural, political, biophysical, or economic factors that have prevented vegetation growth and led to a persistent low carbon state such as that in the baseline scenario.	open ended text	n/a	N/A	2000
48	42	Required	Unless you are using Ecosystem Restoration Standard's M001 or Isometric's Reforestation methodologies for developing your project, please describe the general method to design and develop your dynamic baselines, including the selection of the donor pool area, the proposed stocking index, matching criteria and data sources, matching method and performance.	open-ended text	n/a	N/A	2000
49	43	Required	If not using a certified dynamic baseline procedure, justify and describe what alternative statistical approach is being used to set your baseline deduction.	open-ended text	n/a	E.g., if you are using a difference-in-difference approach instead of matching, or another peer-reviewed matching procedure	1000
50	44	Required	Please briefly describe the regulatory and policy context of the project area, including the existence of any regulations, policies (including government subsidies), or laws that mandate, support, or promote any activities related to restoration, reforestation, or revegetation in the project area	open ended text	n/a	N/A	2000
51	45	Required	Please describe how you estimated project removals, including model sources, parameterization and treatment of uncertainty. Please also indicate whether pilot and/or locally collected data has been used to validate the estimated project removals.	open ended text	n/a	N/A	2000
52	46	Optional	If available, please provide the sources of allometric equations used in your project or other assumptions for growth.	open ended text	n/a	N/A	1000
53	47	Required	Please indicate which carbon pools are being considered for crediting in your project and commercial offer and approximate percentage of each.	multi-select	1. Aboveground biomass (AGB) 2. Belowground biomass (BGB) 3. Soil carbon (SOC) 4. Any additional carbon pools	N/A	N/A
54	48	Required	Please provide a short description of the current land and agricultural use, including information about kinds of agricultural production in the project area. If the project area is not productive for agriculture, describe why is this the case. If available, please describe any agricultural output change estimations in the project area (i.e., the difference between agricultural production in the baseline scenario vs in the project scenario).	open ended text	n/a	N/A	2000
55	49	Required	Please select the types of agriculture production that are currently, or were recently, in the project area. If the project area is not used for agriculture, please select none.	multi-select	See platform	N/A	N/A
56	50	Optional	If applicable, please describe any agricultural subsidy programs that affect the project area, including the operation rules or requirements of these programs.	open ended text	n/a	N/A	500
57	51	Required	Please describe the project's leakage mitigation measures. If none, answer N/A.	open ended text	n/a	E.g., is any agricultural intensification planned?	1000
58	52	Required	What is the project crediting period?	numeric	n/a
59	53	Required	Please describe natural and anthropogenic risk of reversals and any mitigation strategies.	open-ended text	n/a	N/A	2000
60	54	Optional	If your project is using a land leasing model, what is the project contract length (in years) with landowners for crediting? Are there any renewal periods? If so, how often?	numeric	n/a	N/A	N/A
61	55	Required	What is the anticipated duration (in years) of the post-crediting monitoring period?	numeric	n/a	N/A	N/A
62	56	Required	Please describe what legal or socioeconomic approaches or mechanisms is your project is relying on to prevent potential long-term reversals after the project crediting period .	open ended text	n/a		2000
63	57	Required	Please describe your carbon measurement, reporting, verification (MRV) plan including the integration of remote sensing and field-based methods for inventories at verification, data sources, key partners (if any), and how will the plan be implemented. If you are using Ecosystem Restoration Standard's M001 methodology, please describe how you plan to validate ERS' remote sensing estimations in the field.	open ended text	n/a	N/A	2000
64	58	Required	Is the project located in a high ecological conservation value area (e.g. threatened species habitat, biome with high levels of biodiversity, important watersheds, national reserves, etc.)? If yes, please provide a brief overview of why the area is a high ecological conservation value area. Include any references to relevant studies.	open ended text	n/a		2000
65	59	Required	Please briefly describe your reference ecosystem(s) and how this reference ecosystem was determined.	open ended text	n/a	If available, please provide a link to the formal description for this reference ecosystem	1000
66	60	Required	What ecological benefits do you expect your project will generate? Are these aligned with the goals of the Global Biodiversity Framework' 2030 Targets? If so, how?	open ended text	n/a	Please refer to the Global Biodiversity Framework 2030 targets to make this connection, it it exists.	1000
67	61	Required	Are you using or plan to use any particular methodology or plan to keep track of the expected ecological benefits you listed? What specific biodiversity metrics and/or ecosystem services do you expect to measure and monitor? What data collection methods are you using or considering? Methods include but are not limited to: camera traps, eDNA, acoustic monitoring, field surveys.	open ended text	n/a	N/A	1000
68	62	Optional	Have you established any partnerships with researchers, institutions, or NGOs to support your ecological restoration goals? If so, please list the names and briefly describe the role of these partners.	open ended text	n/a	N/A	1000
69	63	Required	What is the species composition for plantings in the project? If the project plans to plant more than 10 species, or if your project uses passive restoration approaches (e.g. assisted natural regeneration) select the top 10 species based on abundance or dominance. If your project uses a mix of direct planting and passive restoration, please focus only on the direct plantings.	table	Species Name - Native or Non-Native - Percent of Seedlings Planted		N/A
70	64	Required	Please describe any ecological and/or socioeconomic rationales for your species composition. If non-native species are included, please explain why. If fewer than 5 species are included, please explain why more species weren't included.	open-ended text	n/a		500
71	65	Required	If your project includes an active reforestation component, please describe your overall restoration/reforestation supply chain, focusing on the sources and collection process of germplasm used for seedling production.	open-ended text	n/a		1000
72	66	Required	Briefly describe your site preparation methods for planting. Do they require the application of herbicides, fertilizers, biomass removals, and/or subsoiling?	open-ended text	n/a		1000
73	67	Required	What is your land strategy?	drop-down	1. Land acquisition by project developer or partners from individual private landowners 2. Land acquisition by project developer or partners from a collective of landowners or a community 3. Land acquisition by project developer or partners from an organization 4. Land-based (i.e., lease) agreements between project developers and individual private landowners 5. Land-based agreements (i.e., lease) between project developers and a collective of landowners or communities 6. Project developer is (are) the original landowner(s) 7. Publicly owned land under a concession model	N/A	N/A
74	68	Required	What is status of land acquisition and/or landowner enrollment?	drop-down	1. Contracts signed for all of the planned project area 2. Contracts signed for some of the planned project area 3. Contract in negotiation for all of the planned project are 4. Contract in negotiation for some of the planned project area 5. Verbal discussions underway for some or all of the planned project area 6. Other: [write in]		N/A
75	69	Optional	If you have not uploaded a land ownership or enrollment plan, please explain how you will accomplish the necessary outreach to new landowners to meet the enrollment targets if landowners have not yet been identified or under contract negotiations.	open ended text	n/a	N/A	2000
76	70	Optional	Please tell us about who lives in and around the project area, including potential marginalized communities, migration trends, inhabitation of indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) in or near the project area, presence of any relevant rural or urban communities that could be positively or negatively affected by the project.	open ended text	n/a		1000
77	71	Required	Please describe the role and level of involvement of local leadership (i.e., indigenous groups, local communities, landowners, farmers) in the project design, implementation, and governance.	open ended text	n/a		1000
78	72	Required	Do you have a benefit sharing plan with the landowners (in addition to the restoration of their land)?	drop-down	Yes No	Benefit sharing may include a revenue share or royalty with landowners, fixed lease payments, job creation, timber or agroforestry revenue....
79	73	Required	Please provide a description of the benefit sharing plan, including: (a) how the beneficiaries, the benefits types, and their allocation were determined, (b) the amount and payment structure of any monetary benefits, and (c) whether and how beneficiaries have agreed and to this benefit sharing plan and what evidence you have to support that.	open ended text	n/a	N/A	2000
80	74	Required	Please confirm that the stakeholder engagement plan you uploaded provides details on the traditional and/or indigenous communities if any are impacted by the project. In addition, the plan uploaded should provide a plan to engage landowners and/or impacted communities to ensure Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) prior to implementing project activities, and throughout the life of the project.	drop-down	Yes No	N/A	N/A
81	75	Required	Can you confirm that all the land ownership associated to the project is granted under statute, regulation, or decree by a competent authority of the country in which your project is being developed?	drop-down	Yes No	N/A	N/A
82	76	Optional	If applicable, describe any formal or informal land tenure characteristics of the land involved in the project.	open ended text	n/a	N/A	1000
83	77	Optional	Please describe if you are you using or plan to use any particular methodology to determine, assess, and monitor appropriate local engagement, and to keep track of any expected socioeconomic outcomes.	open ended text	n/a	N/A	1000
84	78	Required	Is your organization (the organization submitting the project) the project developer for the project?	drop-down	Yes No	The project developer is the organization responsible for the overall project design, implementation, registration and validation, and management. The project developer may outside some or all of these functions, but it ultimately successful for the project's success.	N/A
85	79	Required	What is the name of your organization?	open ended text	n/a	N/A	100
86	80	Required	What is the role of your organization?	open ended text	n/a	Please provide role (e.g. broker, investor, advisor) and whether you will be the organization with whom Symbiosis members will ultimately contract for offtake.	200
87	81	Required	What is the name of the organization that will be the project developer for the project? If you are the project developer then enter your own organization's name.	open ended text	n/a	N/A	100
88	82	Required	What is the website of the project developer? Write N/A if no website is available.	open ended text	n/a	N/A	100
89	83	Required	What type of organization is the project developer?	drop-down	1. For-profit company 2. Global non-profit organization 3. Local non-profit organization 4. Other	N/A	N/A
90	84	Required	Please describe the project developer's source of financial backing (for example: philanthropic donors, venture capital or private equity, family office, subsidiary or a larger organization, self-funded).	open ended text	n/a	N/A	500
91	85	Required	What is the experience level of the project developer organization?	check multiple boxes	1. The organization has registered and issued credits for 1 or more projects under same registry as this project 2. The organization has registered and issued credits for 1 or more projects under other registries 3. The organization has listed but not yet registered or issued credits for 1 or more projects under any registry 4. The organization has not yet listed or registered projects		N/A
92	86	Required	How many years of experience does the project developer have?	number	# years	N/A	N/A
93	87	Required	Please share a brief description of the project developer's experience with similar projects to your proposed project. Include links to other projects you have listed or registered.	open ended text	n/a	N/A	500
94	88	Required	What is the name of the organization that will be implementing the project forestry activities? If your organization will be resposible for implementation, then enter your own organization's name.	open ended text	n/a	N/A	100
95	89	Required	What is the website of the implementation partner? Write N/A if no website is available.	open ended text	n/a	N/A	100
96	90	Required	How much land has the implementation organization restored in the last 5 years in similar projects?	drop-down	1. Less than 100 hectares 2. Between 100 and 1,000 hectares 3. Between 1,000 and 5,000 hectares 4. More than 5,000 hectares		N/A
97	91	Required	How many relevant years of experience does the implementation organization have?	number	# years	N/A	N/A
98	92	Required	Please share a brief description of the implementation organization's experience with similar projects to your proposed project.	open ended text	n/a	N/A	500
99	93	Optional	What is the name of the organization that will be conducting stakeholder engagement activities, if different from the developer?	open ended text	n/a		100
100	94	Optional	How many relevant years of experience does the organization have that is responsible for stakeholder engagement?	number	# years	N/A	N/A