NCGS-M013 — Record-completeness audit of planting records
- Code: NCGS-M013
- Version: NCGS-2026-09-24
- Approval status: Approved
An audit of a site’s planting records against the required field set: for every tree individual a planting record names, a species from the register, a planting position, a planting date, a photograph by content address and, on the record, an observer in the fieldworker or supervisor role. A tree whose record is complete counts as planted, verified and geolocated; the share of complete records is the record-completeness rate. The audit reads records; it visits no tree.
underlying principles and assumptions
Trees planted means trees with a complete record, never a reported total (ADR-0002); completeness is a property of the record, not of the tree; an incomplete record is a data gap to close, not a tree to discount from survival, whose denominator stays the planting-day count.
methods and procedures
For each site, take every planting record by a fieldworker or supervisor of the implementing partner and every tree individual it names; check each tree for species in the register, a planting position, a planting date and a tree photograph, and the record for an observer in role; count complete trees as |P| and all named trees as |N|; the rate is 100 × |P| / |N| per site, rolled up by summing |P| and |N|.
data requirements and inputs
Conformant planting records for the site with their tree individuals (the planting data requirement); the species register; the observer roles scheme.
calculation and transformation rules
Let N be the tree individuals named by planting records at the site whose observer role is fieldworker or supervisor, and P the members of N whose record carries species, position, planting date and photograph. Trees planted, verified and geolocated = |P|. Record-completeness rate R_c = 100 × |P| / |N|, undefined where N is empty; rolled up by summing |P| and |N|, never by averaging rates.
outputs and units of measure
Trees planted, verified and geolocated (count, NUM) by species, stratum, site and census place; record-completeness rate (PERCENT) by site and census place.
validation and verification approach
Verified through the validation sample of the project design: the reviewer of the design samples planting records and checks that each field the audit counts is present and that photographs resolve. Records are not reviewed one by one; the shapes refuse an incomplete record at submission, so the rate below 100 arises from records captured off-platform and imported.
limitations and applicability boundaries
Audits presence, not truth: a photograph of the wrong tree passes. Counts only records by the implementing partner’s field team; an owner’s own planting is a delivered-only tree with a planting date and is counted by the planting rate, not here. Defined for the tree planting activity type only.
rationale
No methodology served trees planted, the output the proposal names first, and the shapes already required the field set; making the audit a methodology gives the indicator a computation, the data quality a rate, and the design something to pair.
Applicability
- NCGS-M013: a planting activity that names an applied methodology must name NCGS-M013 with activity type tree planting.
- NCGS-M013: a tree individual’s planting date lies on or before the day of the planting record that names it; a later date is a capture error, not a planted tree.
Indicators it serves
Activity types
- Tree planting
Knowledge domains a reviewer needs
- Field survey and data capture
- Impact evaluation and estimation
Variables
| Variable | Role | Unit | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Record-completeness rate (R_c) | DerivedOutput | PERCENT | R_c = 100 × |P| / |N| per site, undefined where N is empty; rolled up by summing |P| and |N|. |
| Trees planted, verified and geolocated (|P|) | DerivedOutput | NUM | |P| = members of N whose record carries species from the register, planting position, planting date and photograph, with r in {fieldworker, supervisor}. |
| Observer role on the planting record (r) | MeasuredInput | UNITLESS | |
| Planting date on the tree individual (d_i) | MeasuredInput | DAY | |
| Planting position on the tree individual (pos_i) | MeasuredInput | UNITLESS | |
| Species on the tree individual (sp_i) | MeasuredInput | UNITLESS | |
| Tree individuals named by planting records (N) | MeasuredInput | NUM | Every tree individual a planting record by a fieldworker or supervisor names at the site. |
| Tree photograph by content address (ph_i) | MeasuredInput | UNITLESS | The tree-photo evidence item on the tree individual; present when its content address is anchored. |
Monitoring requirements
- NCGS-M013 monitoring requirement: audited at validation, no visit: The audit reads planting records at design validation and at close-out; it prescribes no visit and no horizon. An incomplete record is closed by the field team re-capturing the missing field, never by editing the record.