A novel monitoring protocol to evaluate large-scale forest restoration projects in the tropics

The purpose of this paper is to present a proposal of forest monitoring and an evaluation system adjusted for tropical forest restoration initiatives in support of decision-making, tracking and management in an offsetting policy context. This study is framed by the case study of the Rio de Janeiro State Environmental Agency (INEA RJ) in Southeastern Brazil. We tested a set of indicators to evaluate restoration projects up to 4 years since planting. After the data were collected, we developed a scorecard and tested it in the field, allowing the evaluation of project development on a scale from 0 to 10. This analysis indicates conformity or a need for adequacy. We measured 7853 individuals on 205 sample plots. The projects had an average age of 32 months in the range of 14–48 months. The average scorecard value was 5.87 points, and we adequately assessed ecosystem structure, composition, function, species composition and organization. We create an evaluation tool to support decision-makers as also the restoration practitioners' decisions. The main innovation was to popularize the forest monitoring among stakeholders independent of the technician's experience background, by offering a simple, accessible, and robust protocol.