Impact Partner Assessment Questionnaire

Impact
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:heavy_heart_exclamation: DISCLAIMER: If you choose to post this information on the forum, it will be publicly available to anyone with an internet connection.

IF YOU WANT TO KEEP YOUR DATA CONFIDENTIAL, PLEASE E-MAIL IT TO hello@anuinitiative.org :heavy_heart_exclamation:

:shamrock: Organisation Details

Name of Organisation:

  • Enter your organisation’s name here.

Primary Contact Information:

  • Enter the name and contact details of the primary person of contact.

Website/Social Media Links:

  • Provide links to your website and any relevant social media profiles.

For how long has your organisation delivered ecologically oriented impact?

  • Between 0 and 1 year.
  • Between 1 and 3 years.
  • Between 3 and 5 years.
  • More than 5 years.

What type of Quantifiable Impact can your organisation deliver? Quantifiable Impact is defined as a whole number of impact delivered (e.g., unit - trees planted/meter square of coral reef restored/km square of reforested land/number of individuals educated ecologically, etc.)

  • Provide any additional comments or information here.

Is your organisation officially registered? If yes, please provide the country of registration and your organisation’s registration number.

  • Yes, our organisation is registered.
  • Country of Registration: ___________________
  • Registration Number: ___________________
  • No, our organisation is not officially registered.

When was your organisation incorporated?

  • Between 0 and 1 years ago.
  • Between 1 and 3 years ago.
  • Between 3 and 5 years ago.
  • More than 5 years ago.
  • Specify year of incorporation: _______

How many employees currently work in your organisation?

  • Between 1 and 5.
  • Between 5 and 10.
  • Between 10 and 20.
  • Between 20 and 50.
  • Between 50 and 100.
  • More than 100.

Is your organisation a non-profit/not-for-profit or a for-profit entity?

  • Non-profit: Our organisation is registered as a non-profit/not-for-profit entity.
  • For-profit: Our organisation operates on a for-profit basis.

Is your organisation willing to enter into a legally binding agreement with Anu Initiative CLG? This agreement will detail the All-inclusive Price for Quantifiable Impact and will include Proof-of-Impact requirements, such as regular updates, multimedia documentation, and direct community engagement. All-Inclusive price incapsulates all operational costs to deliver impact plus funds to deliver transparency back to the Anu Initiative community and the larger public.

  • Yes, we are willing and prepared to enter into a legally binding agreement.
  • No, we are not willing or able to commit to a legally binding agreement at this time.

:shamrock: Commitment to Transparency

Would your organisation be willing to enter in an agreement that includes a project specific audit clause, allowing for an audit to be conducted by an independent professional services firm, not affiliated with Anu Initiative CLG?

  • Yes, we are open to and welcome the inclusion of an audit clause in agreements to ensure accountability and transparency.
  • Maybe, we would consider an audit clause depending on the specific terms and conditions outlined.
  • No, we are currently not in a position to agree to an audit clause in our agreements.

Would your organisation be willing to document each step of the project, including the use of funds, and share this publicly?

  • Yes, we are fully willing to document and share all relevant details.
  • Yes, but we would need guidance on best practices for documentation and sharing.
  • No, we are not comfortable sharing detailed operational or financial information publicly.

:shamrock: Engagement and Community Involvement

Is your organisation open to engaging with the Anu Initiative community through forums, Q&A sessions, or other interactive platforms such as Twitter Spaces, Recorded Microsoft Teams meetings, etc. – with the intention to them make them public?

  • Yes, we are excited to engage directly with the community.
  • Yes, but we may need guidance on how to best engage with your community.
  • No, we prefer to focus on project execution rather than community engagement.

:shamrock: Legal and Ethical Compliance

Is your organisation willing to undergo a fitness and probity assessment to check compliance with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Terrorism Financing (CTF) regulations as required by Anu Initiative CLG?

  • Yes, we already comply with AML and CTF regulations or are willing to undergo necessary checks.
  • Unsure, we would need more information on what this entails.
  • No, we cannot comply with these regulations.

Additional Comments

Please share any additional information or comments that you believe are relevant to your application to become an Impact Partner with Anu Initiative CLG:

  • Provide any additional comments or information here.

:heavy_heart_exclamation: Please ensure all responses are accurate and complete. Your transparency and willingness to comply with these terms are crucial for a potential partnership with Anu Initiative CLG. Thank you for your detailed responses. :heavy_heart_exclamation:

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[quote=“Daniel, post:1, topic:81”]
Ogallala Life Conservation Inc

Will Masters, will@ogallala.life:

Website/Social Media Links:

For how long has your organisation delivered ecologically oriented impact?

  • Between 1 and 3 years.

What type of Quantifiable Impact can your organisation deliver? Quantifiable Impact is defined as a whole number of impact delivered (e.g., unit - trees planted/meter square of coral reef restored/km square of reforested land/number of individuals educated ecologically, etc.)

  • In the near-term, we can deliver metrics as to the number & size of leaky weirs aka natural infrastructure in dryland streams, intended to slow, spread & sink stormwater. We can provide additional metrics related to soil health, plantings for native grasses & pollinators, and riparian perennials including trees (bare-root & live cuttings). These numbers can be provided relative to approximate distance of (ephemeral) degraded creek channel, but may not be directly comparable to treatments appropriate to other channels in other landscapes.
  • Long term, we hope to provide metrics as to amounts of water captured & infiltrated, for improved photosynthesis (transpiration) and as recharge to regional aquifer, as well as data related to improved watershed & created wetland function, along with the indirect impacts of landscape rehydration including improved soil health, biodiversity, water quality and more.
  • An excellent article by The Mulloon Institute provides a “compendium” of scientific evidence for landscape rehydration. Google it. The forum won’t allow me to post additional links as a new user.

Is your organisation officially registered? If yes, please provide the country of registration and your organisation’s registration number.

  • Yes, our organisation is registered.
  • Country of Registration: USA
  • Registration Number: will be provided by email

When was your organisation incorporated?

  • Between 1 and 3 years ago.
  • Specify year of incorporation: 2022

How many employees currently work in your organisation?

  • Between 1 and 5.

Is your organisation a non-profit/not-for-profit or a for-profit entity?

  • Non-profit: Our organisation is registered as a non-profit/not-for-profit entity.

Is your organisation willing to enter into a legally binding agreement with Anu Initiative CLG? This agreement will detail the All-inclusive Price for Quantifiable Impact and will include Proof-of-Impact requirements, such as regular updates, multimedia documentation, and direct community engagement. All-Inclusive price incapsulates all operational costs to deliver impact plus funds to deliver transparency back to the Anu Initiative community and the larger public.

  • It Depends upon the terms, scope & breadth of said agreement. But Yes, we are willing and prepared to enter into a legally binding agreement

:shamrock: Commitment to Transparency

Would your organisation be willing to enter in an agreement that includes a project specific audit clause, allowing for an audit to be conducted by an independent professional services firm, not affiliated with Anu Initiative CLG?

  • Maybe, we would consider an audit clause depending on the specific terms and conditions outlined.

Would your organisation be willing to document each step of the project, including the use of funds, and share this publicly?

  • Yes, but we would need guidance on best practices for documentation and sharing.

:shamrock: Engagement and Community Involvement

Is your organisation open to engaging with the Anu Initiative community through forums, Q&A sessions, or other interactive platforms such as Twitter Spaces, Recorded Microsoft Teams meetings, etc. – with the intention to them make them public?

  • Yes, we are excited to engage directly with the community.

:shamrock: Legal and Ethical Compliance

Is your organisation willing to undergo a fitness and probity assessment to check compliance with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Terrorism Financing (CTF) regulations as required by Anu Initiative CLG?

  • Yes, we already comply with AML and CTF regulations or are willing to undergo necessary checks.

Additional Comments
LFG :wink:

1 Like
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Hi @Will - thanks a lot for posting this here.

We’ll be in touch with you as soon as we are closer to going operational.

One further question from our side - are you open to implement the Ecological Benefits Framework for your projects?

5

Oh yes, got caught up in our reply and forgot to mention a few things :slight_smile:
Absolutely, we’re willing & interested in reporting “impact” using EBF framework. We were privileged to be around when EBF started and were one of a number of case-studies, were interviewed spring/summer 2023, following our first project & in ancitipation of the second. Some of our work is more directly translatable to EBF’s six key areas than others, but thats’ a challenge we need deal with.
For instance, we expect to be able to document positive impact as to soil health, water & biodiversity. Carbon too but that gets a bit complicated. Less directly, air & equity. The equity conversation is particularly interesting in our bioregion. Its’ a tricky balance, telling a narrative that’s’ compelling in both a global & local context.

1 Like
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That’s great to know @Will
One last question from me - who owns the land where you run your projects? Are there any commitments made to authorities with regards to land-ownership and the state of the land?

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Good question, and not as simple as it sounds. Our first pilot took place on private ranchland N of the Canadian River valley. In January & February 2023, we installed about 110 instances of NIDS (natural infrastructure in dryland streams) along stretches of 5 different watersheds, believed to be hydrologically significant. Then the area we treated received over years’ worth of rain in May & June. We got lots of feedback fast. This project was great but suboptimal in 2 respects.

  1. Lack of “buy-in” by cattle operator, who leases the right to place cattle. As is typical in this area, there is no riparian fencing or other attempts to exclude cattle from the sensitive riparian areas, wetlands and springs.
  2. Privately owned, no public access without special arrangements.

To “succeed”, landscape rehydration works need be adopted on working lands, farms & ranches. But we need demonstration & research sites that are accessible & visible to the public…

We’re really excited about this years’ project. Our landowner partner is the Don Harrington Discovery Center (DHDC), which took over Wildcat Bluff a few years ago. Wildcat Bluff is a section of land (1 square mile, 640 acres) w/ extensive ex-riparian habitat along west amarillo creek. We found historic aerial imagery that confirms oral history, ie that the creek experienced perennial base-flow up to the mid 1970s. Anyway, the DHDC is a regional science, tech & innovation hub with a mission that involves education and community engagement. Its’ interests at Wildcat Bluff extend to education in the (applied) natural sciences, which is perfect overlap to our mission (landscape rehydration, empower & enrich communities sustained by the High Plains Aquifer System).

So our 2024 project is at Wildcat Bluff. We have a MOU with DHDC that contemplates long-term works. The primary work session this year is finished. We installed 80 leaky weirs aka NIDS along West Amarillo creek, and we’re awaiting rain. We have 3 volunteer days, one per month thru April, and have gotten a lot of interest from the community to engage, which is what its’ all about. We’ll plant 300 or so bare-root seedlings (walnut, pecan, persimmon, bur oak) and over 1000 live cuttings (native willows, cottonwood). We’ve planted some clover to use as green manure, and will plant native grasses & pollinators mix.

And we’ve earned a seat at the table to discuss larger questions, ie how best to graze the land. Cattle were removed last summer and will be reintroduced at some point in the future, subject to a yet-to-be-worked out “holistic” management plan.
Classically, the USDA wants to spray herbicide to control brush encroachment. We’re advocating instead to experiment with goats, and have connected a nearby goat-herder with DHDC folks to work that out. Its’ great fun.

Currently, the only commitment we have regarding Wildcat Bluff is the MOU with its’ owner and our collaborator, the DHDC. We have potential commitments in the works but not ready to announce.
Notably, we are not currently “minting” any kind of carbon or other ecosystem service related credit. We hope to prove up the relevance of the landscape rehydration works to the carbon & PES markets, but that’s a big conversation for another day. The primary intent of our work at Wildcat Bluff is to provide a publicly visible, compelling demonstration of landscape rehydration works in a landscape that’s relevant across the region.

We’ll continue our works at Wildcat for years to come. And we continue to monitor the work done in 2023. But we want to expand our project’s footprint, and are looking for project candidates for 2025. We really want to experiment in a playa wetlands context but there are certain difficulties that need be addressed…

We’ve cultivated a good relationship w/ a more established regional nonprofit, Ogallala Commons. OC and the Tecovas foundation are hosting a regional water conference late March. The attendees are offered a tour to visit Wildcat and we’ll have some big names in the space attending (Anabranch solutions, for example, is a speaker). OC is also planning to do a “stewarding our aquifer” field day at Wildcat in April, presenting another good chance to show the work and engage larger community.

1 Like