How to Monitor, Report on and Verify a Land Restoration Project

WRI has developed a cost-effective MRV framework and the TerraMatch platform to track land restoration progress. The process combines geospatial polygons, semi-annual field reports, and independent verification using AI-driven satellite imagery and employment records to measure tree counts, carbon stocks, and job creation.

• The MRV process utilizes a four-part 'recipe' to ensure scalability and consistency in measuring restoration: geospatial polygons to define project boundaries, semi-annual progress reports for qualitative and quantitative data, and independent verification using remote sensing and records.
• To overcome the difficulty of collecting location data in remote areas, WRI partnered with Wells for Zoë to create the Flority app, which allows restoration champions to create geospatial polygons in the field without an internet connection.
• Verification of tree counts is conducted using an AI object-detection model that analyzes high-resolution satellite images to identify tree crowns at baseline, mid-project, and at the five-year mark to determine survival rates.
• The framework measures social and biophysical impacts beyond tree counts, including the verification of jobs created via employment records and the mapping of carbon sequestration in partnership with Michigan State University's Global Observatory for Ecosystem Services.
• The TerraMatch platform serves as an end-to-end system that matches champions with funding and provides a data dashboard for donors, investors, and governments to track progress across more than 240 projects.

APA

World Resources Institute (2025). How to Monitor, Report on and Verify a Land Restoration Project. https://www.wri.org/update/land-degradation-project-recipe-for-restoration

Chicago

World Resources Institute. How to Monitor, Report on and Verify a Land Restoration Project. 2025. https://www.wri.org/update/land-degradation-project-recipe-for-restoration.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=How to Monitor, Report on and Verify a Land Restoration Project |date=25 February 2025 |url=https://www.wri.org/update/land-degradation-project-recipe-for-restoration |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2025how, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{How to Monitor, Report on and Verify a Land Restoration Project}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2025}, month = feb, url = {https://www.wri.org/update/land-degradation-project-recipe-for-restoration}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }