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5.2 SUPERB Marketplace

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Recent debates on greenwashing and the real impact of nature based investments have raised questions about which restoration projects genuinely deliver measurable outcomes. Transparent information on additionality, permanence, leakage and monitoring is increasingly needed. SUPERB, with support from its sister project MERLIN and OPPLA, has developed the SUPERB Marketplace as a dedicated platform for large scale nature restoration projects that seek real, lasting environmental impact. Each project presents concise information on objectives, restoration measures, costs, funding needs and expected outcomes, and completes a short self assessment on key integrity aspects. This creates a structured entry point for assessing whether a project has the foundations for credible ecological performance and future reporting.

Nature based finance operates in a context where concerns about greenwashing, overstated benefits and uneven monitoring standards are widely discussed. In this setting, investment in forest and landscape restoration increasingly depends on access to clear information about additionality, permanence, leakage risks and the quality of monitoring, reporting and verification. The SUPERB Marketplace was developed in response to these needs. SUPERB, supported by its sister project MERLIN and OPPLA, has created a platform that presents large scale restoration projects aiming for measurable, lasting environmental impact and grounded in current scientific and practical knowledge.

On the Marketplace, each project outlines the core elements of its restoration strategy. Entries describe the location of activities, affected biomes, area size and planned restoration measures. Expected benefits for biodiversity, climate and local communities are summarised together with the implementation period, total project costs, the amount of external funding requested and existing regional, national or international public support. This structure provides an immediate overview of the scale and financial architecture of each project.

A central element is the built in self assessment completed by project owners. Projects indicate whether environmental benefits are conditional on additional funding, whether actions are mandatory under current regulation, and whether planned measures go beyond minimum legal standards. Further questions cover the use of recognised restoration guidelines, the existence of an upscaling route map, baseline assessments and monitoring of ecological indicators. Taken together, these components address key integrity dimensions in restoration finance, including additionality, permanence, leakage, MRV and the robustness of evidence available for later validation and reporting.

The Marketplace also collates information on long term management and responsibility. Projects report expected costs after the main restoration period and indicate whether environmental benefits are planned to continue beyond the formal project end date. Ownership of potential CO₂ credits is specified, and it is indicated whether funders may reflect environmental outcomes in ESG or CSRD reporting. Information on stakeholder involvement shows whether relevant actors have been engaged in, or given access to, the restoration plan and invited to provide feedback.

Through this design, the SUPERB Marketplace offers a curated overview of restoration initiatives that explicitly engage with current concerns about greenwashing, transparency and long term ecological performance. The platform highlights projects that make their assumptions and commitments visible, allowing financial actors to concentrate further due diligence on opportunities with a clearer basis for demonstrating environmental impact. Links to the Restoration Gateway provide access to additional technical guidance and resources developed within SUPERB and related work.

Link to SUPERB Marketplace: https://restoration-market.com 

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