TFND: The Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) is a voluntary, market-led framework, enabling organizations to assess, report, and act on nature-related dependencies and impacts. Its goal is to integrate nature's value into financial decision-making by promoting transparent disclosure of nature-related risks and opportunities, thus informing capital allocation. More information is available here. 

CSRD: The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is a mandatory EU regulation standardizing and expanding sustainability reporting. It requires companies to disclose comprehensive Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) information via European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). A key element is "double materiality," which mandates reporting on both the financial impact of sustainability issues and the company's impact on people and the environment. ESRS E4 specifically covers nature-related reporting (Biodiversity and Ecosystems).

GRI: The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards are a widely adopted, modular framework for sustainability reporting. Unlike the financially focused TNFD or the mandatory CSRD, GRI aims for broad disclosure of economic, environmental, and social impacts for a diverse set of stakeholders. The framework consists of Universal Standards (GRI 1, 2, 3) mandatory for all, and Topic-specific Standards (e.g., GRI 300 for environmental topics) selected based on an organization's material impacts.

Naming Files

It helps to make sure the polygon names in your spreadsheet match your file names exactly. Keeping names free of special characters or symbols (#, &, *) will also prevent any technical hitches during the upload.

File Formats

We can work with standard formats including .shp, .gdb, .geojson, .kml, and .kmz. For shapefiles, including all the associated components like .shx and .dbf files ensures everything integrates correctly.

Tags

You can assign up to five tags to each site so it’s worth considering how you might want to view your data later such as by region or land use so these can be set up as filters for you.

Grouping Files

Organizing your data into a zipped folder for each individual site helps our data team process and upload your information much faster.

A site is a specific location or asset within your business, such as a farm, a mine, or soil plot. A single site is often made up of many polygons. You might define multiple polygons for a single site to manage fragmented landscapes or different management goals.

The site manifest helps to gather and organise data for your Habitat Insights or Portfolio projects. This includes setting the filters for how you would like to view your Portfolio, for which there can be up to 5. 

Sampling groups help organise your biodiversity data so it is easier to compare, report on, and act on. You can group samples by site, habitat, or time period depending on what you want to track, such as changes over time, differences between locations, or the impact of management actions. This also helps the platform calculate metrics like BII and identify risks across your portfolio. The right setup is the one that best supports your reporting needs and stakeholder requirements, including frameworks such as TNFD.

The sample manifest file provides our lab with the essential metadata required to process your project. It acts as the bridge between your physical samples and their specific geographic context, ensuring the data we deliver is accurate and auditable.

To ensure a smooth transition from the field to the laboratory, we recommend your fieldwork team reviews the manifest before heading out to the site. This helps confirm that all necessary data points are captured at the source, preventing the risk of missing information that could delay your results.

Download a copy here