An open-access database of nature-based carbon offset project boundaries.

IF 5.8 2区综合性期刊 Q1 MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES

Scientific Data Pub Date : 2025-04-05 DOI:10.1038/s41597-025-04868-2

Akshata Karnik, Jack B Kilbride, Tristan R H Goodbody, Rachael Ross, Elias Ayrey

{"title":"An open-access database of nature-based carbon offset project boundaries.","authors":"Akshata Karnik, Jack B Kilbride, Tristan R H Goodbody, Rachael Ross, Elias Ayrey","doi":"10.1038/s41597-025-04868-2","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Nature-based climate solutions (NBS) have become an important component of strategies aiming to reduce atmospheric CO2 and mitigate climate change impacts. Carbon offsets have emerged as one of the most widely implemented NBS strategies, however, these projects have also been criticized for exaggerating offsets. Verifying the efficacy of NBS-derived carbon offset is complicated by a lack of readily available geospatial boundary data. Herein, we detail methods and present a database of nature-based offset project boundaries. This database provides the locations of 575 NBS projects distributed across 55 countries. Geospatial boundaries were aggregated using a combination of scraping data from carbon project registries (n = 433, 75.3%) as well as manual georeferencing and digitization (n = 127, 22.1%). Database entries include three varieties of carbon projects: avoided deforestation, afforestation, reforestation and re-vegetation, and improved forest management. An accuracy assessment of the georeferencing and digitizing process indicated a high degree of accuracy (intersection over union score of 0.98 ± 0.015).","PeriodicalId":21597,"journal":{"name":"Scientific Data","volume":"12 1","pages":"581"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-04-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Scientific Data","FirstCategoryId":"103","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-04868-2","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Nature-based climate solutions (NBS) have become an important component of strategies aiming to reduce atmospheric CO₂ and mitigate climate change impacts. Carbon offsets have emerged as one of the most widely implemented NBS strategies, however, these projects have also been criticized for exaggerating offsets. Verifying the efficacy of NBS-derived carbon offset is complicated by a lack of readily available geospatial boundary data. Herein, we detail methods and present a database of nature-based offset project boundaries. This database provides the locations of 575 NBS projects distributed across 55 countries. Geospatial boundaries were aggregated using a combination of scraping data from carbon project registries (n = 433, 75.3%) as well as manual georeferencing and digitization (n = 127, 22.1%). Database entries include three varieties of carbon projects: avoided deforestation, afforestation, reforestation and re-vegetation, and improved forest management. An accuracy assessment of the georeferencing and digitizing process indicated a high degree of accuracy (intersection over union score of 0.98 ± 0.015).

查看原文本刊更多论文

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Scientific Data Social Sciences-Education

CiteScore

11.20

自引率

4.10%

发文量

689

审稿时长

16 weeks

期刊介绍： Scientific Data is an open-access journal focused on data, publishing descriptions of research datasets and articles on data sharing across natural sciences, medicine, engineering, and social sciences. Its goal is to enhance the sharing and reuse of scientific data, encourage broader data sharing, and acknowledge those who share their data. The journal primarily publishes Data Descriptors, which offer detailed descriptions of research datasets, including data collection methods and technical analyses validating data quality. These descriptors aim to facilitate data reuse rather than testing hypotheses or presenting new interpretations, methods, or in-depth analyses.