flowchart TB
mv_s1["Observe every tree at the declared horizon"]
mv_household_survey["Household benefit survey"]
mv_s2["Verification review"]
mv_s3["Approved claims"]
mv_s1 --> mv_household_survey
mv_household_survey --> mv_s2
mv_s2 --> mv_s3
NCGS Monitoring and Verification Workflow
A monitoring visit at a declared horizon (ADR-0010) produces one observation per tree (ADR-0005); an observation the plan did not schedule is kept and marked unscheduled, never refused, and never enters a rate (ADR-0012, ADR-0020); a verification review by a reviewer qualified in the applied methodology’s domains and independent of the observer (ADR-0013) approves them; approved claims are the substance of every reported rate (ADR-0014).
- Observe every tree at the declared horizon
- Household benefit survey
- Verification review
- Approved claims
1. Observe every tree at the declared horizon
One observation per tree individual planted at the site, alive or dead, with condition, care, evidence and offset from planting; trees not reached are unobserved, never dead.
Prerequisite checks
PlantingRecordShape
SHACL shape.
- A planting record creates at least one tree individual.
- A planting record is about exactly one site.
- A planting record names exactly one observer by IRI (ADR-0004).
- A planting record records exactly one tree planting activity.
- A species may be planted outside its suitable vegetation types only with a supervisor override and reason.
- At a site cleared with conditions, every named condition must be recorded as met by a site preparation record before planting.
- Every tree in a planting record stands at a position belonging to the record’s site.
- Instance data must not use the standard’s namespace https://nova.org.za/ncgs/ (ADR-0002: instances are urn:uuid: IRIs).
- Planting at a site requires the landowner agreement to be signed, or agreed verbally where the project design accepts that for the site’s type (ADR-0030), in force when the planting was observed: the agreement is a precondition of putting a tree in the ground (decision register D-3.5, ADR-0019).
- Planting may take place only at a site whose latest assessment determination is suitable or suitable with conditions (ADR-0006).
TreeIndividualShape
SHACL shape.
- A tree individual has at most one planting date, the anchor of its horizons; a delivered-only tree anchors on its consignment’s delivery date.
- A tree individual has exactly one steward or owner, as an agent IRI and role (ADR-0007).
- A tree individual is in exactly one stratum: delivered only, delivered with monitoring, planted without monitoring or planted with monitoring (ADR-0003, ADR-0031).
- A tree individual names exactly one species or cultivar from the register. There is no free-text other.
- A tree individual records the container size it was planted from.
- A tree individual stands at at most one planting position; a tree planted by the implementing partner stands at exactly one.
- A tree individual’s photographs are evidence items.
- A tree may repeat the vegetation type at its position (a form convenience that drives the species picker).
- A delivered tree, monitored or not, comes from a consignment: it must reference the consignment it was handed over in (ADR-0003, ADR-0031).
- A delivered tree, monitored or not, was not planted by the implementing partner: no planting record by a fieldworker or supervisor may name it; a planting record by its owner or steward is valid history and leaves it delivered (ADR-0003, ADR-0031).
- A planted tree’s stratum follows its site’s designation: planted with monitoring at a site designated planted with monitoring, planted without monitoring at any other site, and no tree is planted by the implementing partner at a site designated delivered only or delivered with monitoring (ADR-0029, ADR-0031).
- A species listed under NEMBA category 1a or 1b may never be planted, whatever its approval status (ADR-0009).
- A thorny or poisonous species is not planted within 10 m of where children play or walk, by the site’s latest assessment that gives the distance (#99).
- A tree comes only from a consignment that was handed over, never from a failed delivery attempt.
- A tree from a consignment must be a species or cultivar the consignment carried: a delivered mango cannot become a planted olive (ADR-0003).
- A tree in a planted stratum carries the planting-day record: container size, planting date, position, hole typology, compost, depth, mulch, stem paint and a photograph.
- A tree in a planted stratum must be named by a planting record whose observer is a fieldworker or supervisor of the implementing partner (ADR-0003).
- A tree individual exists only once it is distinguishable: it carries a tag, or a planting record names it, or an observation is made of it (ADR-0003).
- A tree recorded as not planted has no planting date or planting practice; one recorded as planted has no unplanted fate.
- A tree with a planting date was planted: it has no unplanted fate.
- A tree’s tag must be one its consignment issued, where the consignment issued tags at all (ADR-0002: the tag is the bearer of the identity, and it was handed over with the trees).
- A vegetation type stated on a tree must be the one the site’s latest assessment observed; the site state is the fact of record.
- A withdrawn species or cultivar may not be planted.
- Instance data must not use the standard’s namespace https://nova.org.za/ncgs/ (ADR-0002: instances are urn:uuid: IRIs).
- The species or cultivar must be a concept in the NCGS species scheme (no free-text other).
- The steward or owner role on a tree must be steward or owner.
M013QuantitativeApplicabilityShape
SHACL shape.
- 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.
M013SemanticApplicabilityShape
SHACL shape.
- NCGS-M013: a planting activity that names an applied methodology must name NCGS-M013 with activity type tree planting.
Completion checks
MonitoringVisitRecordShape
SHACL shape.
- A monitoring visit carries at least one tree observation.
- A monitoring visit is at exactly one site.
- A monitoring visit names exactly one observer by IRI, never a literal (ADR-0004, ADR-0007).
- A monitoring visit names the observer’s role; the role grades the evidence (ADR-0004).
- A monitoring visit record records exactly one monitoring visit activity.
- A visit declares at most one horizon from the observation-horizon scheme; a visit outside every window declares none (ADR-0010).
- A visit observes each tree individual at most once.
- Every tree observed on a visit stands at a position of the visited site.
- Every tree observed on a visit that has no planting position comes from a consignment handed over at the visited site.
- Instance data must not use the standard’s namespace https://nova.org.za/ncgs/ (ADR-0002: instances are urn:uuid: IRIs).
- On a T0+ planting check, every observation of a tree delivered with monitoring says whether the tree is in the ground (ncgs:inGround): it is what planting uptake counts (ADR-0031).
TreeObservationShape
SHACL shape.
- An observation carries the moment it was made.
- An observation claims exactly one tree state (ADR-0005).
- An observation is about exactly one tree individual.
- An observation records its offset in days from the tree’s planting date, written by the offset operation, never asked (ADR-0023).
- Every tree observation carries at least one geotagged photograph.
- A recorded offset must be positive: observations come after planting.
- An observation must be made after the tree’s planting date.
- An observation of a tree with no planting date must be made after its consignment’s delivery date, the anchor of a delivered-only tree’s horizons (ADR-0010).
- An observed tree must have a planting record or come from a consignment; there are no phantom trees (ADR-0003).
- Instance data must not use the standard’s namespace https://nova.org.za/ncgs/ (ADR-0002: instances are urn:uuid: IRIs).
- The claimed tree state must be a state of the observed tree.
TreeStateShape
SHACL shape.
- A tree state carries at most one reported planting date, which is recorded and never moves the tree’s anchor (ADR-0031).
- A tree state carries exactly one condition class from the tree-conditions scheme.
- A tree state is the state of exactly one tree individual.
- A tree state says at most once whether the tree was in the ground when observed (ADR-0031).
- A tree state says whether the tree is alive.
- A cause of death is recorded only on a tree observed dead.
- A tree observed dead carries the condition class dead, and only a dead tree does.
- A water source is a concept or, for an Other answer, the respondent’s words (ncgs:waterSourceOther), never both.
- Instance data must not use the standard’s namespace https://nova.org.za/ncgs/ (ADR-0002: instances are urn:uuid: IRIs).
- The short canopy axis cannot exceed the long axis.
- When a tree’s decline was noticed is recorded only for a tree observed dead.
M001QuantitativeApplicabilityShape
SHACL shape.
- NCGS-M001: every tree observation on the visit carries at least one photograph.
M001SemanticApplicabilityShape
SHACL shape.
- NCGS-M001: a tree observed on a census visit has a planting record at the visited site or, delivered with monitoring, came in a consignment handed over there; a delivered-only tree is outside the census frame and its observation is unscheduled (ADR-0003, ADR-0020, ADR-0031).
- NCGS-M001: a visit that names an applied methodology must name a monitoring-visit methodology (NCGS-M001, NCGS-M002, NCGS-M004, NCGS-M010, or the provisional NCGS-M005) with activity type monitoring visit.
- NCGS-M001: the census applies under a census sampling design; a visit under a plan that samples its strata is verified under NCGS-M002 (ADR-0016).
M002QuantitativeApplicabilityShape
SHACL shape.
- NCGS-M002: a sampled visit declares a horizon.
M002SemanticApplicabilityShape
SHACL shape.
- NCGS-M002: a sampled visit observes only trees in a stratum the plan samples; a tree outside the sampled strata is outside the frame.
- NCGS-M002: the estimator applies under a sample design declared on the monitoring plan the trees’ planting activity, or a delivered tree’s handover activity, runs under; a census plan is verified under NCGS-M001 (ADR-0016).
M004QuantitativeApplicabilityShape
SHACL shape.
- NCGS-M004: every living tree observed on a canopy visit carries both canopy axes in metres above zero.
M004SemanticApplicabilityShape
SHACL shape.
- NCGS-M004: canopy and shade are measured at T4 or later; a visit applying the methodology declares T4 or T5 (ADR-0012).
M005SemanticApplicabilityShape
SHACL shape.
- NCGS-M005 is provisional: it applies only under a design carrying the carbon module’s crediting-period and eligible-land sections, which no design carries in this release (ADR-0016).
M010SemanticApplicabilityShape
SHACL shape.
- NCGS-M010 applies only to a visit at a household stand.
- NCGS-M010 applies only to a visit that carries a household survey record: the survey is the methodology’s record.
- NCGS-M010 applies only to a visit that declares T2 or a later horizon.
Marking checks
Marks the visit’s observations as unscheduled where the visit’s declared horizon lies beyond the monitoring period of the observed tree’s own planting activity, or of a delivered-with-monitoring tree’s handover activity, or the tree has no such plan (ADR-0012, ADR-0020, ADR-0031)
Smart function check.
Step detail
Questions asked: NCGS monitoring-visit questions
2. Household benefit survey
At a household stand only, on a visit at T2 or later that observed at least one living tree there: the owner answers the household benefit survey (NCGS-M010) for the stand’s living fruit trees and the household. Seat: the visit’s fieldworker or supervisor. Conditional: a visit at any other site, before T2 or with no living tree skips the step (ncgs:appliesWhen), and its checks hold vacuously for such a visit, so the journey reaches verification either way.
Prerequisite checks
Completion checks
FruitingAnswerShape
SHACL shape.
- A fruiting answer is about exactly one tree individual.
- A fruiting answer says whether the tree bore fruit in the recent season.
- Instance data must not use the standard’s namespace https://nova.org.za/ncgs/ (ADR-0002: instances are urn:uuid: IRIs).
HouseholdSurveyRecordShape
SHACL shape.
A household survey is at exactly one site.
A household survey is taken by a fieldworker or a supervisor; an owner does not survey their own household.
A household survey is taken on exactly one monitoring visit.
A household survey names exactly one interviewer by IRI, never a literal (ADR-0004, ADR-0007).
A household survey names exactly one respondent, as an agent IRI and a role, never a name (ADR-0007).
A household survey records how many people in the household benefit from the trees, as one count, never a list of people (ADR-0007).
A household survey records the months in the past year with fruit from the programme’s trees, from 0 to 12.
A household survey says whether fruit from the programme’s trees was shared in the recent season.
A household survey says whether fruit from the programme’s trees was sold in the recent season.
Each fruit tree asked about is an answer naming the tree and whether it bore fruit.
A household survey answers for each tree at most once.
A household survey is taken on a monitoring visit at the same site.
A household survey is taken on a visit that declares T2 or a later horizon: before T2 a tree has not had a season to bear fruit.
A household survey is taken on its visit’s day, at or after the visit began: a survey dated before the visit or on another day is not that visit’s.
A household survey is taken only at a household stand.
A household survey is taken only on a visit that observed at least one living tree at the stand: the visit confirms the tree, the answer does not.
A monitoring visit carries at most one household survey.
Every tree a fruiting answer names was observed alive on the survey’s visit.
Instance data must not use the standard’s namespace https://nova.org.za/ncgs/ (ADR-0002: instances are urn:uuid: IRIs).
The respondent of a household survey is enrolled as the owner of the surveyed stand: an owner of another stand cannot answer for this one (ADR-0007).
The respondent of a household survey is the owner of the stand, in the owner role.
A visit the survey step applies to carries a household survey record; any other visit passes
Smart function check.
Step detail
Questions asked: NCGS monitoring-visit questions
Questions asked: NCGS household-survey questions
3. Verification review
Seat: any reviewer meeting the KSR requirement in tree establishment and stewardship and in field survey and data capture, who is not the observer (ADR-0013).
Prerequisite checks
No verification review of the visit is by its observer (the reputation requirement is the platform’s to enforce)
Smart function check.
Completion checks
The latest verification review of the visit is approved
Smart function check.
Step detail
No form is filled in at this step.
4. Approved claims
Terminal: the visit’s tree observations are approved state claims; the survival family at the declared horizon is computed from them under NCGS-M001, unobserved trees counted alongside.
Prerequisite checks
Completion checks
Every observation of the visit is an approved claim (the unobserved count is a derived figure the ledger does not carry)
Smart function check.
Step detail
No form is filled in at this step.
Review requirements
Verification of a monitoring visit
Every monitoring visit at a declared horizon is verified before its tree observations become approved claims and enter a rate. The reviewer checks one observation per tree, the offset against the declared horizon, evidence per tree and the applied methodology’s monitoring requirement. Required domains are derived from the applied methodology (NCGS-M001: tree establishment and stewardship, field survey and data capture), each governed by its KSR rule. Seat open to any qualified reviewer who is not the observer (ADR-0013).
| review mandate | Verification |
| reviewed artifact type | monitoring-visit-record |
| seat policy | Open to any KSR-qualified reviewer |
| minimum reviewers | 1 |
| reviewer must not be observer | yes |
| knowledge domains from applied methodology | yes |
| governed by KSR rule | Take a verification review seat (field survey and data capture); Take a verification review seat (tree establishment and stewardship) |