Global Conservation Standard 2.02

The Global Conservation Standard (GCS) is designed to make conservation pay for landowners and the local populations worldwide based on the stock volume of measurable ecosystem services benefits through the issuance and sale of Conservation Credit Units (CCUs). Through the sale, money is channeled to the legal-land use holder and the Stakeholder Foundation that has the mandate to invest in the empowerment of sustainable local livelihoods, thus creating a "core conservation area" and "commercial buffer zone".

Goals of the GCS:
Building a bridge between long-term finance, sustainable development and conservation security;
Attracting international finance to holistic land-use management;
To complement existing climate change mitigation measures;
Providing pragmatic financing for reforestation, agroforestry and forestry applications; and
Increasing the capacity of rural and poor communities livelihoods.

Organization
The Global Conservation Standard e.V. is a charitable organization registered in Offenburg / Germany (Registry VR 1078).