NCGS Knowledge Domains
Controlled vocabulary of knowledge domains required to submit, override and review under the Nova Community Greening Standard.
Carbon accounting for afforestation
Knowledge of AR-AMS0007, AR-TOOL14, allometric equations and the eligibility conditions of small-scale afforestation. Needed only if the carbon module is built.
Community engagement and environmental education
Knowledge of stakeholder engagement, running education sessions, attendance and knowledge assessment, and the ethics of working with learners and households.
Field survey and data capture
Knowledge of structured field observation, geotagged photographic evidence, device metadata and the assessment of records against their evidence.
Field team supervision
The competence to lead a field team: planning visits, checking fieldworkers’ records against their evidence, resolving disagreements on site, and deciding when a derived determination should be overridden. Earned as team leader or assistant supervisor; required to act in the supervisor observer role.
Grassland and wetland ecology
Ability to recognise intact Highveld grassland, wetland and riparian vegetation in the field and to judge whether planting trees would harm it. The domain of the safeguard review; its threshold is set higher than the others.
Impact evaluation and estimation
Knowledge of sampling, stratified estimation, rates and their denominators, horizons, and the limits of what a monitoring period can support.
Indigenous species selection and planting practice
Knowledge of which indigenous and fruit species suit a vegetation type, frost regime and water supply, and of hole preparation, planting depth, staking and mulching.
Local area knowledge
Familiarity with a particular place: years resident, languages spoken, ability to find one’s way, membership of local organisations, churches, clubs or societies. Objectively testable and place-specific; a score is meaningful only for the census place or municipality it was earned in.
Site suitability assessment
Knowledge of the safe-space criteria: water, caretaking, security, soil, space and access, and of how tenure and landowner agreement gate an assessment.
Tree establishment and stewardship
Knowledge of how young trees establish, the condition scale, watering and mulching regimes, pests and causes of death, and how to judge whether care is being given.