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This is a quick read that explains what HCV Screening is and how it is used in practice.

This strategy reflects our mutual commitment to protecting and enhancing high conservation values (HCVs) across the globe, ensuring a sustainable future for all.

This document sets the requirements for becoming a licensed assessor under the HCV Network (HCVN) Assessor Licensing Scheme (ALS).

Successful completion of a High Conservation Value (HCV) Assessor Training Course and High Carbon Stock Approach (HCSA) Registered Practitioner Course are part of the requirements to become licensed under the HCV Network (HCVN) Assessor Licensing Scheme (ALS) and lead integrated HCV-HCSA Assessments. This training course counts both as the HCV Assessor Training Course and the HCSA Registered Practitioner course. The course aims to ensure that prospective licensed assessors obtain an adequate level of understanding of ALS procedures and good practice needed to competently lead an integrated HCV-HCSA assessment.

The Principles of the High Conservation Value (HCV) Approach are designed to provide consistency in the use of the HCV Approach across various contexts, geographies, commodities and scales.

The Principles of the HCV Approach cover nine aspects. Each is framed with short descriptions, which set out what users of the approach should be seeking to achieve in their implementation processes.

Is your organisation interested in becoming a Member of the HCV Network? This leaflet explains the categories, fees and process for joining.

This document explains why the Assessor Licensing Scheme(ALS) was created and how it works. It is a useful resource for prospective assessors, current assessors and Organisations commisioning assessments.

This document summarizes the changes from the HCV-HCSA Manual 2017 to the HCV-HCSA Manual 2023

This document is the official technical reference for all HCV-HCSA assessments conducted from 28 June 2023. Part I guides assessors in preparing for and conducting HCV-HCSA assessments. Part II is for writing the HCV-HCSA assessment report or assessing its quality. It details reporting requirements, including content, analysis quality, and a structured report template.

The 2023 HCV-HCSA assessment report template is available for download here:

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Comments from public consultation of the HCV-HCSA Assessment Manual 2023

This procedure defines the responsibilities and methods for development, revision, control, and release of ALS controlled documents.

To ensure the HCV Approach continues to be widely adopted, in 2022 we increased our training course offering, we recruited a small team to grow our landscapes workstream, joined new partnerships and alliances, trialed new tools and continued to engage users of the HCV Approach such as financial institutions, commodity producers, and voluntary sustainability standards.

Licensed Assessors who disagree with the result of their HCV assessment report or HCV-HCSA assessment report evaluation result can submit an appeal using our online Appeal Form. This document explains the scope and the process for submitting an appeal. Assessors must only submit one appeal form per evaluation to avoid excessive forms - please see explanation about how to add responses (appeal topics) before clicking submit!

The development of the National Interpretation was overseen by WWF-Bhutan. A National Consultant led the consultation process, compiled information and drafted

the National Interpretation, with support both from the HCV National Expert Group (NEG) and the HCV Network Secretariat.

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The course aims to ensure that prospective licensed assessors obtain an adequate level of understanding of Assessor Licensing Scheme (ALS) procedures and good practice needed to competently lead an integrated HCV-HCSA assessment. Participants will learn about the HighConservation Value (HCV) and High Carbon Stock (HCS) Approaches and their joint use in practice.

In 2021, the HCV Network hosted the HCV Summit, kicked-off development of its 2030 Roadmap and welcomed BioAp as a Member, and Wilmar as a Supporter.

Since the Independent Review of the Assessor Licensing Scheme was commissioned, the Secretariat has been implementing improvements and several more are planned. These improvements are summarized in an Action Plan. Actions are organized with five overarching goals in mind: 1) To reduce evaluation timelines & improve report evaluation consistency; 2) Increase transparency; 3) Achieve financial sustainability; 4) Strategy; 5) M&E and impacts.

This is a list of all public ALS documents, including their type and languages.

New Guidance for Management and Monitoring of High Conservation Values in Malaysia

This procedure is available when someone wishes to raise a complaint (i.e. to express their disagreement) about
something related to the HCVRN ALS. If you wish to make a complaint contact the Assessor Licensing Scheme (ALS)
Quality Manager to discuss the matter - before submitting a complaint form.

Successful completion of a High Conservation Value (HCV) Assessor Training Course is part of the requirements to become licensed under the Assessor Licensing Scheme (ALS), and lead HCV Assessments. The course aims to ensure that prospective licensed assessors obtain an adequate level of understanding of ALS procedures and good practice needed to competently lead an HCV assessment.
This syllabus presents the minimum content requirements that Registered Training Providers (RTPs) must follow to develop and deliver an HCV Assessor Training Course that meets ALS requirements.

This ALS Complaint Procedure is available when someone wishes to raise a complaint (i.e. to express their disagreement) about something related to the HCVRN ALS. If you wish to make a complaint please contact the ALS Quality Manager at qualitymanager@hcvnetwork.org or the HCVRN Secretariat at secretariat@hcvnetwork.org to discuss the matter - before submitting a complaint form.

This document sets out the agreement between the HCV Network and a training provider for the HCV Assessor Training Course.

These Terms and Conditions govern the terms in relation to the evaluation of HCV and HCV-HCSA assessment reports by Members of the Assessor Licensing Scheme Quality Panel.

This rapid review took place between April 7th - 30th 2021 and is based on a survey, key stakeholder interviews and an analysis of organizational documents. The main stakeholders involved in the review included: Licensed Assessors, Quality Panel Members, partner organisations, and HCVN Secretariat staff.

Results show that overall, the ALS has delivered on its objective of improving the competency of Licensed Assessors and the quality of HCV and HCV-HCSA assessment reports. However, there is room for improvement especially in terms of consistency, timeliness, transparency and learning.

Professionals, with relevant experience and expertise, who are interested in contributing to high quality HCV and HCV-HCSA assessments that identify important social and environmental values in commodity production settings. The ALS is seeking professionals with the skills necessary to evaluate HCV assessment reports and/or HCV-HCSA assessment reports produced by licensed assessors. ALS is seeking both primary and secondary reviewers for the Quality Panel. See the document for different application requirements.

The HCV Network (HCVN) Assessor Licensing Scheme (ALS) aims to promote quality and consistency of HCV and HCV-HCSA assessments. A key part of this scheme is independent report evaluation by a Quality Panel (QP) composed of experts in the interpretation and use of the HCV approach, and with relevant environmental and social expertise.

This document provides detailed guidance for preparing an HCV assessment report according to Assessor Licensing Scheme (ALS) requirements. It explains what is required for different sections of the report so that you know what the ALS Quality Panel will be evaluating.

The first edition of the HCV Assessment Manual was published in 2014, with the launch of the ALS. Since then, we have all (assessors, Quality Panel members, ALS staff) gained experience on how report evaluation works in practice. Building on this experience and the fact that in December 2018, the HCV Network launched a new website and ALS web platform for report evaluation - it was necessary to update the manual and templates.

As a reminder, in October 2018, we shared a draft version of this manual for comments, which were received and addressed.

In September 2021 we updated this document to reflect changes to the publication of public summaries.
We intend to work on further improvements to this manual as it is used in practice. Upon publication of this manual and the accompanying reporting templates (HCV assessment report template), any HCV assessments beginning after the publication of the new documents, must use the new manual and templates.

Internal investigations allow the HCV Network (HCVN) Management Committee (MC) to address potential non-compliances by Assessor Licensing Scheme (ALS) participants.

This pilot procedure went into effect on 27 December 2019. This procedure will apply to any assessment initiated after this cut-off date. Upon publication of this document, any reports submitted to ALS which contain more than one AOI, and/or multiple development areas will be evaluated according to the longer timeframes published in this procedure. Assessors will be requested to register their on-going or recently completed assessments which started before the cut-off date for this procedure.

The Assessor Licensing Scheme (ALS) was launched in November 2014. Since that time, the scheme has undergone periodic reviews. This document summarizes important changes to the ALS over time.

This report summarizes the findings of a multi-stakeholder workshop in Accra, Ghana, aimed at identifying challenges and recommendations for improving the identification, management and monitoring of High Conservation Values 5 & 6.

Natural forest dynamics and regeneration patterns are molded by natural disturbance regimes. These determine fundamental characteristics like forest structure, tree species composition and patterns of forest succession over time. Over the last decades, foresters have begun to take account of such regimes, and to some extent emulate their outcomes, as exemplified by various retention practices in the boreal and low impact logging in the tropics. However, even so nature is underused as model. This briefing paper focuses on how basic concepts of forest dynamics can inform conservation planning and help maintain High Conservation Values (HCVs).

This study, commissioned by the RSPO Biodiversity and High Conservation Value Working Group (BHCV WG), investigated the challenges to effective management and monitoring of HCVs in RSPO-certified oil palm plantations and provides preliminary recommendations for addressing these challenges.

This HCV Threat Monitoring Protocol was designed and field trialed by The Zoological Society of London’s (ZSL) Biodiversity and Palm Oil Project in Indonesia to standardize the monitoring of anthropogenic threats to High Conservation Value (HCV) areas within oil palm landscapes.

Good practice guide to meeting Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification requirements for biodiversity and High Conservation Value Forests in Small and Low Intensity Managed Forests

This is a guide to help managers and owners of small-scale and low intensity forest operations maintain or improve the management of biodiversity and High Conservation Values (HCVs) within their forests. This guide is not designed to replace management plans - but to strengthen them. It is designed to help them meet FSC certification requirements for biodiversity and HCV conservation through the process of identification, management and monitoring.

Guidance for indirect impact assessments on ‘unused land’ and input for developing a certification module for Low Indirect Impact Biofuels for the RES-D.

Draft 1 of a toolkit aimed at setting up standards and processes for monitoring and managing High Conservation Values in Cameroon’s Small and Low Intensity Managed Forests.

Guide for assessors and land managers to identify High Conservation Value forests (as defined in the HCV toolkit 2003) in Bolivia.

The toolkit interprets High Conservation Values (HCV) identified in the FSC’s forest management Principle 9 within the context of Bulgarian conditions and has created specific HCVs appropriate within the country.

This document has two parts: an introductory section discusses overarching topics applicable to all or most of the High Conservation Value forest assessment process. The remainder of the document is arranged by the 6 HCV categories (as defined in the original 2003 toolkit) and 19 questions established in Appendix 5 of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Canada National Boreal Standard; High Conservation Value Forest National Framework.

A guidance document for forest managers.

The guidelines have been prepared through public consultations, workshops, bibliographic review, seminars and contributions received from specialists, Interested Parties (IP) and the Technical Committee of the Forest Stewardship Council-Chile, and are intended for HCV evaluators in charge of forest management. , auditors and PI. They provide a conceptual and practical guide to working on HCVs and standardize the use of the HCV approach.

This document summarizes the discussions of the National Interpretation Workshop for High Conservation Value forests in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which took place in Kinshasa in February 2012. The workshop was organized by WWF-RDC and facilitated by Proforest.

Published in 2008. Interpretation of the concept of High Conservation Value (HCV) as defined by the High Conservation Value forest Toolkit for Gabon.

Published 2006. Interpretation of the concept of High Conservation Value forest, as outlined in the outdated High Conservation Value Forest (HCVF) Toolkit.

Panduan ini dimaksudkan sebagai suatu protokol standar dalam melakukan penilaian NKT yang dapat menjamin mutu, transparansi, dan integritas aplikasinya di Indonesia. Hal ini dilakukan terutama dengan menjelaskan tahap-tahap yang disyaratkan oleh proses penilaian NKT secara lebih jelas dan rinci, mendefinisikan hak dan kewajiban para pihak terkait, serta menyediakan Panduan dalam mengumpulkan data dan informasi yang memenuhi standar minimum rentang waktu dan mutu. Panduan ini ditulis dalam suatu bentuk yang generik agar dapat diterapkan dalam berbagai sektor, termasuk sektor pengusahaan kayu konvensional, perkebunan kelapa sawit ataupun tanaman industri (pulp), pertambangan dan tataguna lahan.

This document presents the results of a national workshop held in Monrovia in July 2012 to develop an National Interpretation of High Conservation Values for Liberia.

Published in 2009. A national guide for identifying, managing and monitoring High Conservation Value forests in Malaysia.

Published in 2018. National Guidelines for identifying HCVs in Malaysia. This document supersedes the High Conservation Value Forest (HCVF) Toolkit for Malaysia published by WWF-Malaysia in 2009.

Learn about our self-paced online course: Introduction to HCV Screening

This white paper was produced as part of the HCV Network's session on HCV Screening for Sustainable Land Use: Prioritizing Conservation and Livelihoods in Production Landscapes at the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) Climate Hybrid Conference on November 6, 2021.

HCV Screening: Guidance for identifying and prioritising action for HCVs in jurisdictional and landscape settings 

This document describes a methodology called High Conservation Value (HCV) screening. HCV screening is a desktop exercise that uses the six HCV definitions to characterize the environmental and social aspects of a landscape or jurisdiction. Screening considers: the likelihood that HCVs are present, identifies threats to those HCVs and indicates which values are most at risk. This guidance was first published in April 2019. In 2020 the guidance was updated to incorporate learning and experience from HCVN-coordinated screenings and inputs from other practitioners. HCV screening teams are the primary audience for the document, but it should also be informative for stakeholders involved in screening processes and for those involved in the wider project or initiative in which a screening is being conducted (e.g. government technical staff, NGOs, donors and investors).

The Management Committee (MC) governs the HCV Network in three-year periods. The Management Committee Terms of Reference describe how the MC is appointed and how it operates.

In 2014, approximately 9 certification schemes, 56 private sector organizations, and 12 financial institutions included High Conservation Values (HCV) as a key requirement in their principles and criteria, or their global procurement and investment policies.

To help guarantee consistency in the implementation of the HCV approach accross commodities and regions, the HCV Resource Network implemented a series of activities and projects in 2014.

Last year, the HCV Network launched the HCV Assessor Licensing Scheme (ALS), held a workshop in Ghana aimed at identifying challenges and opportunities of identifying, managing and monitoring HCVs 5&6, published the Common Guidance for HCV Management and Monitoring, among many other activities.

This year’s highlights include supporting the Better Cotton Initiative in developing risk-based approaches for HCV identification, publishing the HCV Assessor Licensing Scheme two-year progress report, launching our Standards Working Group in collaboration with ISEAL, training APP on forest integrity assessments, publishing a study about HCV management and monitoring, and launching the HCV-HCSA Assessment Manual.

2015 was a busy year for the HCV Resource Network. In July the Network became legally independent from Proforest, its institutional host since 2011.

Last year, the Network actively engaged with the High Carbon Stock Approach (HCSA) Steering Group, supported efforts to implement HCV, HCS and FPIC jointly in practice and developed the Forest Integrity Assessment tool manual (supported by WWF Sweden).

Other activities such as the approval of the HCV for smallholder’s tool (by RSPO Biodiversity), a workshop in London about High Conservation Values with more than 10 sustainability certification schemes (in collaboration with ISEAL Alliance) and the launching of “Things That Matter” campaign at the XIV World Forestry Congress, were part of the Network’s agenda.

The Secretariat participated in the 13

th

Annual Roundtable Conference on Sustainable Palm Oil (RT13) at Kuala Lumpur and in the 18

th

International Palm Oil Conference held in Colombia.

In 2020, the HCV Resource Network welcomed APRIL Group to the Management Committee, Tropenbos Indonesia, PT Hijau Daun, Hollow-wood Enterprises Pty. Ltd, Bonsucro and Ecotrop joined as Members, and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) became a Supporter.

This document explains the Terms & Conditions that are followed by Member organizations when joining the HCV Network.

Field form with sets of yes/no scoring questions which guide and standardize assessments in Scandinavian forests, adding up to a numerical value of forest integrity. Some questions address biodiversity directly (e.g. presence of trees with epiphytes), others serve as indicators of natural conditions or low human pressure (e.g. presence of very large trees and presence of trees of high commercial value). Recent field forms divide scoring questions into two sections: Structure and Composition, and Impacts and Threats.

Field form with sets of yes/no scoring questions which guide and standardize assessments in evergreen forests from the Greater Mekong region, adding up to a numerical value of forest integrity. Some questions address biodiversity directly (e.g. presence of trees with epiphytes), others serve as indicators of natural conditions or low human pressure (e.g. presence of very large trees and presence of trees of high commercial value). Recent field forms divide scoring questions into two sections: Structure and Composition, and Impacts and Threats.

Field form with sets of yes/no scoring questions which guide and standardize assessments in tropical rainforests in the Darién region, adding up to a numerical value of forest integrity. Some questions address biodiversity directly (e.g. presence of trees with epiphytes), others serve as indicators of natural conditions or low human pressure (e.g. presence of very large trees and presence of trees of high commercial value). Recent field forms divide scoring questions into two sections: Structure and Composition, and Impacts and Threats.

Field form with sets of yes/no scoring questions which guide and standardize assessments in dry and deciduous forests from the Greater Mekong region, adding up to a numerical value of forest integrity. Some questions address biodiversity directly (e.g. presence of trees with epiphytes), others serve as indicators of natural conditions or low human pressure (e.g. presence of very large trees and presence of trees of high commercial value). Recent field forms divide scoring questions into two sections: Structure and Composition, and Impacts and Threats.

A simple and user-friendly tool for assessing and monitoring biodiversity conditions in forests and forest remnants developed by the HCVRN with support from WWF.

A good practice guide for the adaptive management of HCVs developed by the HCV Network. This document provides general guidance for the management and monitoring of HCVs. It builds on earlier guidance documents produced by Proforest (2008 a and b), a working paper by Timothy Synnott (2012), and on consultation with HCV experts and interested stakeholders.

The primary audiences for this document are resource managers and HCV assessors. Conformity Assessment Bodies (certification bodies) and auditors could also find the guidance useful. However, this document is not intended to be directly audited against (such as a standard would be), but rather it is a guidance document, which provides good practice recommendations.

This document is intended to be used by Registered Training Providers (RTPs) for training purposes only.

This document is intended to be used by Registered Training Providers (RTPs) for training purposes only.

Valid for HCV assessment reports following 2019 manual and HCV-HCSA assessments following 2017 manual

This document is for use by Quality Panel (QP) members (external consultants or HCVN ALS staff) for evaluation of HCV and HCV-HCSA assessment reports and supporting documents (referred to as the report package).

A good practice guide for identifying High Conservation Values (HCVs) across different ecosystems and production systems developed by the HCV Network. This document was first published in October 2013. After the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) updated the HCV 2 definition in their standard to include Intact Forest Landscapes (IFL), the HCV Network updated this document in September 2017 to align with FSC’s inclusion of IFLs in the definition of HCV 2.

This briefing note provides an overview of the Forest Integrity Assessment Tool and gives two examples of how FIA has been used for biodiversity and carbon monitoring.

Field form with sets of yes/no scoring questions which guide and standardise assessments in moist forests from the Valdivian region, adding up to a numerical value of forest integrity. Some questions address biodiversity directly (e.g. presence of trees with epiphytes), others serve as indicators of natural conditions or low human pressure (e.g. presence of very large trees and presence of trees of high commercial value). Recent field forms divide scoring questions into two sections: Structure and Composition, and Impacts and Threats.

This document describes the six categories of High Conservation Values.

The HCV Network 2030 Roadmap sets out the four strategic pillars and key actions directing the Secretariat team and our Members towards achieving a world where production to meet human needs conserves nature, benefits people, and respects their rights.

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This briefing note explains how Nature Positive Farming can help support smallholder producers achieve Deforestation and Conversion Free sourcing requirements.

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Over the last 20 years, the High Conservation Value (HCV) Approach has mainly been applied in single sites for planning production of palm oil, forestry, and other commodities, while ensuring protection of High Conservation Values (HCVs). However, to effectively tackle the climate and biodiversity crises, the HCV Network has started to scale up focus from single commodities and individual farms to entire landscapes and jurisdictions.

On November 30th, 2022, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the HCV Network Secretariat hosted a workshop for several HCV Network Members and partners to discuss how to accelerate this agenda, and how to translate HCV Screening results to effective, long-term actions for protection of HCVs in landscapes and jurisdictions. The HCV Screening methodology was developed by the HCV Network in 2019 in response to increasing demand and interest to scale up the use of the HCV Approach in landscapes and jurisdictions where there is commodity production and other types of land uses.

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The course aims to ensure that prospective licensed assessors obtain an adequate level of understanding of Assessor Licensing Scheme (ALS) procedures and good practice needed to competently lead an integrated HCV-HCSA assessment. Participants will learn about the High Conservation Value (HCV) and High Carbon Stock (HCS) Approaches and their joint use in practice.

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