Reference

Glossary

Verbatim definitions of every domain term used throughout the Atlas. 103 terms across legal, methodology, entities, governance, principles, and lifecycle. Search, filter, jump.

Showing 103 of 103 terms

#

§170(h)Legal: IRC §170(h): the federal tax provision that allows charitable deductions for qualified conservation contributions. Restricts qualified holders to 501(c)(3) public charities, government units, and certain supporting organizations. **A Vermont DAO LLC almost certainly does not qualify**; mitigation is forming an affiliated 501(c)(3) (working name: Landseed Conservation Trust) to hold the deed. Open question Q3. See `01-nrd-lite/04-legal-floor.md` Test 5.
501(c)(3)Legal: US tax-exempt public charity status under IRC §501(c)(3). Required for §170(h) qualified-holder status. Two uses in this repo: (a) the proposed *Landseed Conservation Trust* affiliated 501(c)(3) that holds the deed for tax-deduction purposes; (b) the proposed status of the *Methodology Foundation*.

A

Adversarial reviewLifecycle: The internal pressure-testing pass — the practice of attacking the architecture's own assumptions. The repo is the fourth adversarial iteration; further internal iteration is diminishing-returns. **The next move is external review** (outside counsel, jurisdictional counsel, indigenous-rights advocate, the co-architect).
Attestation receiptMethodology: A cryptographically signed, content-addressed record produced by EC-M-1.1 attesting to: a property identifier, methodology version (hash-pinned), input data sources, output ECI + threat multiplier, and confidence bounds. **The architecture acts on attestation receipts, not on Landseed's say-so.** Cross-referenced as "attestation" throughout.
Audit committeeGovernance: A 3-member committee in registry governance: one Landseed PBC officer (rotating chair), one independent conservation expert, one independent finance/audit expert. Quarterly review of issuance decisions; ratifies buffer-pool rate criteria; reviews actual reversal outcomes vs. rate-implied expectations. **Authority to recuse any officer with conflict of interest.** Year 1 governance, transitioning to Foundation-level audit committee in Year 2+.

B

Bail emphytéotiqueLegal: A French civil-law long-term lease (typically up to 99 years) used in Madagascar and other Francophone jurisdictions for environmental covenants tied to land. The likely VECR mapping in Madagascar.
BBLLC — Blockchain-Based LLCLegal: A Vermont LLC authorized under the Vermont Blockchain-Based LLC Act (10 V.S.A. § 4173, 2018) that may use blockchain technology for governance and recordkeeping. **Default Vermont wrapper for Tier 2 templates.** See `03-jurisdictions/02-wrapper-options.md`.
Beneficiary registryEntities: The named-participant list — Module M1 in every template. Each entry has identity (legal name + off-chain KYC reference), role, voting weight per decision class, distribution share, and successor designation. **Permissioned-only**; entries added through governance, not market mechanism.
Benefit unitGovernance: The non-transferable governance position (a "seat") in a Layer 2 wrapper entity, held by a named real-world stakeholder. **Not an Earth Credit, not an investment, not tradeable, not a "token" in the speculative-financial sense.** Benefit unit count is fixed at deployment for the duration of each member's tenure (Bright Line 6). The strict separation from Earth Credits is the architecture's regulatory firewall.
BifurcationLifecycle: The strategic pivot at the heart of this repo: replacing the monolithic NRD v1.2 with a layered architecture (Layer 1 NRD-lite + Layer 2 governance vehicle + Layer 3 measurement and registry). The "central pivot" that requires the co-architect's first co-sign. See `00-foundations/01-the-pivot.md`.
Blocker questionLifecycle: An open question that **must** close before execution can begin. Five blockers: Q1 (Earth-Credit-denominated distributions), Q2 (per-jurisdiction property categories), Q3 (§170(h) qualified holder), Q9 (landowner on-chain signing), Q14 (pilot strategy). See the executive summary.
Bright linesPrinciples: The eight non-negotiable rules in `04-perimeter/01-eight-bright-lines.md`: (1) no transferable benefit units, (2) no public offering, (3) no pooled treasury, (4) no fund-of-DAOs, (5) credits issued by registry not DAO, (6) cash distributions by default, (7) Landseed never holds controlling position, (8) no DeFi/yield products on benefit units. Crossing any one creates regulatory exposure. **Enforced at three layers**: smart contract code, operating documents, and Landseed operational procedures.
Buffer poolEntities: The reserve of Earth Credits (5–14% of each issuance, risk-tier-adjusted) held in the Methodology Foundation's registry account that replaces invalidated non-retired credits when a property's verified condition catastrophically declines. Analogous to Verra AFOLU buffer or Gold Standard compliance buffer, but tuned to ECI's structural protections. **Buffer credits are the Foundation's, not the wrapper LLC's, from issuance.** See `05-interfaces/05-buffer-pool-specification.md`.

C

Captain LandseedEntities: The autonomous content agent (currently deployed on Fly.io) that publishes citation-first science to social platforms. Publisher, not participant — has no DAO access, no governance rights, no treasury interaction. Operates under content discipline: claims about specific properties must reference cryptographically attested ECI values; investment framing is prohibited. Status: live.
CARE PrinciplesGovernance: The four principles for indigenous data governance (Carroll et al., 2020): **C**ollective benefit, **A**uthority to control, **R**esponsibility, **E**thics. Distinct from but complementary to FAIR data principles; explicitly addresses data sovereignty for indigenous peoples. Mandatory implementation for Template C; deviations require notation and justification. NURJ paper §II.B.
Co-design frameworkGovernance: The Template C exception to "templates not customization" (Principle 5). Each Template C deployment is bespoke, paired with a specific indigenous community: the architecture provides the audited core (treasury operations, attestation hooks, NRD-lite integration, basic governance scaffolding) and bounded parameter space; the community provides the protocols to encode, cultural guardian designations, distribution rules within the community fund, success metrics alongside ECI, and communication norms. **Forcing communities into a Landseed-defined template would reproduce the colonial governance pattern NURJ explicitly critiques.**
Coalition entityEntities: The umbrella term for entities that interact with per-property governance vehicles at well-defined interfaces but are not parents: registry, Exchange, Signal Markets, Institutional Fund, Market Makers, Earth Pulse Network, Captain Landseed. **Counterparties, not parents** (Principle 6). None owns a DAO/LLC; none holds benefit units; none has DAO governance rights.
Coalition entityPrinciples: Defined above (§3). The principle (Binding Principle 6): **counterparties, not parents.** Coalition entities have no DAO credentials, no governance rights, no benefit-unit holdings. Interfaces are unidirectional data flows.
Common enterprise (horizontal vs. vertical)Principles: The second *Howey* element: enterprises where investors share fortunes. **Horizontal commonality** means pooling of investor funds; the architecture's per-property isolation defeats this prong decisively. **Vertical commonality** means investor fortunes tied to promoter's efforts; harder to defeat but mitigated by minimal Landseed protocol fee and beneficiary-effort dominance. See `04-perimeter/02-howey-applied.md` Element 2.
Conservation easement (in-gross)Legal: A non-possessory property interest restricting land use for conservation purposes, held by a qualified organization rather than appurtenant to neighboring land ("in-gross"). The most common common-law mapping for the VECR in US jurisdictions, e.g., under 10 V.S.A. §§ 821–824 in Vermont. See `01-nrd-lite/04-legal-floor.md` Test 1.
Conservation easement statutesLegal: State-level statutes (e.g., Uniform Conservation Easement Act, state acts) that authorize and govern in-gross conservation easements. The local statute determines who can hold, what restrictions are permissible, and how successor binding works.
Constitution guardianGovernance: A single Landseed-held key (multi-sig among Landseed PBC officers) that can veto module upgrades violating the seven binding principles. **A backstop, not an active veto** — exists to prevent governance vehicles from collectively voting to violate per-property isolation, transferability rules, or other architectural commitments. See `02-governance-templates/02-modules.md` M6.
Convention de gestionLegal: A French civil-law management agreement, used (alongside or instead of *bail emphytéotique*) in Madagascar's GELOSE/CLB community-managed natural resource framework.
Counsel-confirmation requiredLifecycle: The repo's standard annotation marker (often italicized) for assertions that are reasoned but not yet validated by qualified counsel. Used throughout per-jurisdiction analysis and partnership-characterization analysis. Distinct from *(not yet built)* which marks technology-dependency.
Counsel-engagement planLifecycle: The sequenced plan in `07-execution/02-counsel-engagement-plan.md` for engaging outside securities counsel and per-jurisdiction local counsel. Vermont first, then Madagascar, Argentina, Ecuador, Bangladesh.
Credit lifecycleLifecycle: The defined states of an Earth Credit: **Issued** (held in registry) → **Held** (in buyer's account) → **Listed** (on Exchange, when built) → **Retired** (claimed by holder; no longer transferable) or **Invalidated** (methodology determines original issuance was invalid; buffer pool replaces). Each transition cryptographically attested. See `05-interfaces/04-registry-function-specification.md`.
Cryptographic attestationMethodology: The general principle (Binding Principle 4) that the architecture's actions are driven by signed methodology output, not testimony. Defends the assay-office thesis. See `00-foundations/03-binding-principles.md` §4.
CSRDLifecycle: Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (EU): mandatory sustainability reporting for large EU companies, including ESRS E4 (biodiversity & ecosystems). Earth Credits provide auditable nature-related disclosure data.
Cultural guardianGovernance: A community-designated role in Template C (and Template F with C component) with veto rights on culturally sensitive actions (sacred-site sensor placement, ceremonial-period publications, etc.). Multi-sig requirement: community-council majority + cultural-guardian approval. **Either side can veto.** Not a Landseed appointment; the community designates and succeeds the role.

D

DAO LLCLegal: A limited liability company organized under a DAO-specific statute (Wyoming DAO LLC Act 2021; Marshall Islands DAO LLC Act). Provides legal personhood for a smart-contract-governed entity. **Marshall Islands DAO LLC is the default non-US wrapper**, paired with a banking-mitigation plan because Marshall Islands faces correspondent-banking friction.
Defend / Accept / MonitorLifecycle: The disposition framework for risks in `06-risks/05-defend-accept-monitor.md`. **Defend**: architectural commitments that cannot be relaxed (the seven binding principles). **Accept**: residual risks the architecture cannot eliminate but bounds operationally. **Monitor**: external conditions to track for early warning.

E

Earth CreditMethodology: The commodity unit issued by the registry against attested ECI scores, denominated per acre per assessment cycle. Each credit has a unique serial number (e.g., `EC-2026-0001-NULHEGAN-001`), is linked to a specific attestation receipt, and moves through a defined lifecycle (issued → held → sold/listed → retired or invalidated). **The commodity flow; visibly different from governance positions at every layer.**
Earth Credits ≠ governance positions firewallPrinciples: Binding Principle 2: the commodity flow (credits) and the governance flow (positions) are visibly different at every architectural layer. Credits issued by Layer 3 registry, issued to anyone, tradeable. Positions issued by Layer 2 wrapper at formation, held only by named stakeholders, non-transferable. **The architectural firewall against the most likely securities characterization.** See `04-perimeter/06-credits-vs-positions-firewall.md`.
Earth Pulse NetworkEntities: The planned distributed sensor network providing continuous in-situ ecological data: acoustic, camera, soil, weather, water, canopy. Per-property cluster $5,000–$15,000 typical. Edge AI (Syntiant NDP wake; Hailo-8L burst); LoRaWAN backhaul. Hardware design complete; field deployment not yet operational. **The architecture works without it** — satellite-only baseline assessment is the fallback. See `00-foundations/06-sensor-to-credit-walkthrough.md` Phase 3.
EC-M-1.1 — Earth Credit Methodology v1.1Methodology: Landseed's open-source methodology for measuring verified ecological condition. Pinned by SHA-256 hash in every NRD-lite at execution. Live at `Landseed-PBC/landseed-calculator` (calculator UI) and specified in `Landseed-PBC/earth-credit-package` and `Landseed-PBC/knowledge-base`. Successor versions (EC-M-1.2, EC-M-2.0) are adopted only through DAO/LLC governance ratification. See `01-nrd-lite/05-methodology-incorporation.md`.
ECA — Earth Credit AggregatorEntities: Term that appears in the `05-interfaces/README.md` index but is *not currently specified* as a distinct coalition entity in `02-coalition-entities.md`. Treat as a placeholder concept, not an active entity.
ECI — Ecological Condition IndexMethodology: The output score of the EC-M methodology: a unit-interval index (0 to 1) representing measured ecological condition. The reserved name for the methodology score; **VECR is the legal-instrument term, ECI is the measurement term — they must not be conflated**.
ECI_conservativeMethodology: The lower bound of the ECI confidence interval (typically `ECI − 1.645 × SE` for 90% CI). Used in the credit-issuance formula instead of the mean to bias toward under-issuance. See `05-interfaces/04-registry-function-specification.md`.
Efforts of othersPrinciples: The fourth *Howey* element: profit derived predominantly from someone other than the investor. **The architecture's strongest defense.** Multi-faceted: landowner stewardship effort, beneficiary self-governance, cryptographic attestation displacing Landseed effort. The smaller the Landseed protocol fee and the more decentralized the methodology, the more decisively this element fails.
ExchangeEntities: A planned coalition venue where Earth Credits are listed, ordered, and traded. **Not yet built.** Year 1 sales are bilateral; Exchange comes online when volume justifies. Cannot hold DAO positions, pool DAO treasuries, or offer "fund of properties" — crossing this line means it has stopped being the Exchange and started being a fund-of-DAOs (Bright Line 4).

F

Family resemblance testPrinciples: The *Reves* four-factor analysis for distinguishing notes that are securities from notes that aren't: (1) motivation of buyer/seller, (2) plan of distribution, (3) reasonable expectations of investing public, (4) risk-reducing factors. The architecture defeats note characterization on multiple factors — and benefit units are categorically not notes in the first place.
First cohortLifecycle: The first 10–20 properties deployed under the architecture. Used for *price discovery* (no established Earth Credit market price) and methodology calibration. Conceptually identified buyers but not contractually committed. Vermont-first per pilot strategy.
FPIC — Free, Prior, and Informed ConsentGovernance: The international standard requiring that indigenous communities give consent freely (without coercion), in advance of (prior to) any decision, and with full information. In Template C, **FPIC is operationalized as governance gates, not advisory** — methodology adoption, management plan amendments, sensor deployment, and external publications all require specific FPIC mechanisms (community-council supermajority, cultural-guardian non-objection, etc.). NURJ paper §II.B. See `02-governance-templates/templates/C-indigenous-co-design.md`.

G

GELOSE / CLBLifecycle: Madagascar's *Gestion Locale Sécurisée / Contrat de Location Bénévole* community-managed natural resource framework. The CLB process is 1–2 years; not under Landseed's control; Madagascar deployments must respect community pacing.
Graduated complexityPrinciples: Binding Principle 7: smart contracts only where they earn their cost. Tier 1 (Vermont LLCs with multi-sig wallets) for solo landowners, land trusts, corporates, sovereigns, and Foundation-held stewardship. Tier 2 (audited smart-contract DAOs) for indigenous co-governance and genuinely multi-party hybrids. **A first-principles concession** that earlier iterations made: not every template needs to be a DAO.

H

Howey testLegal: The four-element US securities test from *SEC v. W.J. Howey Co.* (1946): (1) investment of money, (2) common enterprise, (3) expectation of profit, (4) derived predominantly from the efforts of others. The architecture is designed so multiple elements fail. See `04-perimeter/02-howey-applied.md`.

I

Institutional FundEntities: A planned vehicle that aggregates institutional capital into Earth Credit purchases. Investors buy fund shares; Fund buys Earth Credits. **Buys credits only; does not hold DAO benefit units, does not vote in any DAO** (Bright Line 4). Phase 3 of Landseed roadmap; not in scope for first 1–2 years.
Issuance formulaMethodology: `Earth Credits = Verified Acres × ECI_conservative × Threat_Multiplier × Methodology_Constant`. Proposed; to be confirmed by methodology stewards. See `05-interfaces/04-registry-function-specification.md`.

L

Landseed PBCEntities: The Vermont public benefit corporation that operates as methodology steward, registry operator, and brand owner. **Verifier and registry, not buyer of nature rights.** Revenue model is infrastructure economics: protocol fees (2–5%), registry service fees, methodology licensing, premium services to coalition entities. See `00-foundations/04-business-model.md`.
Layer 1 / 2 / 3Lifecycle: The three architectural layers. **Layer 1**: NRD-lite (recordable real-property law). **Layer 2**: per-property governance vehicle (corporate or smart-contract). **Layer 3**: methodology + cryptographic registry. The layers are independent: a failure in any one does not collapse the others. **Three layers is the answer; if you find a need for a fourth, escalate.**

M

Market MakersEntities: Third-party liquidity providers on the Exchange (when built), providing two-sided markets in Earth Credits only. Cannot make markets in benefit units (forbidden by Bright Line 1).
Methodology buffer / buffer contributionLifecycle: The 5–14% (risk-adjusted) of each issuance routed directly to the Methodology Foundation's buffer-pool registry account. Risk-tier criteria are *published and parametric* — a property's rate follows mechanically from threat multiplier, stewardship history, and jurisdiction.
Methodology ConstantMethodology: A calibration constant per methodology version that allows the formula to be re-tuned without re-deriving its structure.
Methodology FoundationEntities: A separate legal entity (proposed: *Landseed Methodology Foundation*; Vermont nonprofit corporation or 501(c)(3)) that holds the methodology IP under irrevocable open-source license. Continuity-safe: even if Landseed PBC fails, methodology stewardship and the registry continue. 7-member board (3 methodology stewards, 2 independent ecologists, 1 finance/audit, 1 PBC representative). Transition target: Year 2+. See `00-foundations/07-methodology-foundation.md`.
Methodology guardianGovernance: The Landseed-held role with backstop veto on actions that would deliberately destroy the underlying ecological condition. Held by Landseed PBC officers via multi-sig. **Mostly a deterrent; rarely active.** Distinct from cultural guardian (no overlap in authority).
Methodology incorporation by referenceMethodology: The drafting technique whereby NRD-lite identifies the methodology by SHA-256 hash (not URL), pins the version at execution, and defers updates to DAO governance ratification. The linchpin of the architecture's longevity. See `01-nrd-lite/05-methodology-incorporation.md`.
Methodology stewardshipMethodology: The ongoing function of developing, validating, peer-reviewing, and version-managing EC-M. Held by Landseed PBC initially; transitioned to the Methodology Foundation by Year 2+.
Methodology versionMethodology: A specific, hash-pinned release of EC-M (e.g., EC-M-1.1, EC-M-1.2, EC-M-2.0). Each NRD-lite is anchored to a single version; updates require DAO ratification. The registry continues issuing under deprecated versions for a defined transition period (proposal: 24 months).
MiCA — Markets in Crypto-Assets RegulationLegal: The EU regulation (in force June 2023, fully applicable December 2024) governing crypto-asset issuers and service providers. Reaches the architecture if EU substance, EU investors, or EU marketing exists. Practical posture: avoid all three. See `03-jurisdictions/04-eu-mica.md`.
Multi-sig treasuryEntities: A multi-signature wallet (typically 2-of-3, 3-of-5, or template-specific N-of-M) that holds the wrapper entity's funds. Required for both Tier 1 (where the LLC's treasury *is* a multi-sig wallet) and Tier 2 (where the smart-contract DAO's treasury operations are gated by multi-sig).

N

Nature Rights Deed (NRD), v1.2Legal: The original 6,000-line monolithic legal instrument that tried to bundle verification, governance, and economics into a single recordable deed. **Never deployed.** This repo replaces it. See `00-foundations/01-the-pivot.md` and the v1.2 source at `Landseed-PBC/writing/nature-rights-deed.md`.
Network effects above the DAO layerPrinciples: Where Landseed's network effects live: methodology (more properties improve calibration and trust), registry (single trusted source for ecological commodities), brand ("Earth Credits, methodology by Landseed"). **Never at the per-property DAO layer** — that would re-create the fund-of-DAOs failure mode.
NRD-liteLegal: The Layer 1 replacement: a short (8–15 page) jurisdiction-templated legal instrument that does only the load-bearing legal work of severing a verified-ecological-condition interest from the property. Methodology-versioned by hash; counsel-confirmable per jurisdiction. See `01-nrd-lite/`.
Numerus claususLegal: The civil-law principle that only statutorily-recognized property categories exist; new categories cannot be invented. Why the VECR must be *mapped* to an existing category in civil-law jurisdictions, not crafted bespoke. See `01-nrd-lite/02-load-bearing-elements.md` drafting note.
NURJGovernance: The *NRD: Notre-Dame Remote Conservation DAOs* paper (`Landseed-PBC/writing/remote-conservation-daos.md`) — short reference *NURJ paper* — that grounds Template C's indigenous co-governance framework. **Required reading for any Template C work.** Cited by section number throughout: §I.D, §II.B, §IV.A–F, §V. The paper's central argument: indigenous voices must define the logic of governance, not merely be included as stakeholders.

O

Open questionLifecycle: An unresolved architectural or operational issue tracked in `06-risks/03-open-questions.md` (25 total). Each has a proposed resolution; counsel-confirmation is required for most.

P

Paper-backup exhibitMethodology: A 5–10 page printed methodology summary attached to every NRD-lite at recording. Contains SEEA EA dimensions, the high-level formula, and indicator categories. Provides paper-based archival redundancy because recording offices preserve records indefinitely.
Partnership characterizationLegal: The risk that a multi-beneficiary profit-sharing arrangement, even when wrapped in an LLC, is treated as a general partnership under state law — triggering joint-and-several liability, fiduciary duties between members, and partnership tax pass-through. Highest risk in Templates C and F. Mitigation is operating-agreement disclaimers plus operational discipline. See `04-perimeter/04-partnership-characterization.md`.
Penalized Geometric MeanMethodology: The high-level scoring formula EC-M uses to combine the six SEEA EA dimension scores into ECI, applying the threat multiplier and conservative confidence-bound. Listed in the NRD-lite paper-backup exhibit so a future court can ascertain what was being measured. See `01-nrd-lite/05-methodology-incorporation.md`.
Per-property isolationPrinciples: Binding Principle 1: every property has its own Layer 2 governance vehicle. **No parent DAO, no fund-of-DAOs, no pooled treasury, no cross-property primitives.** Architecturally enforced by separate LLCs/DAO LLCs, smart-contract code that cannot call across instances, treasury isolation at the legal-entity level. **Defeats the *Howey* horizontal common enterprise prong.** The architecture's most load-bearing structural choice.
Permissioned membershipGovernance: Binding Principle 3: governance positions are held only by named real-world stakeholders with a specific relationship to the property. Membership is non-transferable except by DAO-approved succession. **No public offering of positions, no token sales, no open-mint mechanisms.** Defeats the public-offering element under most regulatory regimes.
Pilot criteriaLifecycle: The selection requirements for first-cohort properties in `07-execution/04-pilot-criteria.md`. Vermont-first; Tier 1 templates only initially; clear stakeholder shape; established stewardship history.
Pressure testLifecycle: A scenario-based adversarial evaluation in `06-risks/02-pressure-tests.md`. 16 tests, each with consistent format: scenario / prevention / mitigation / residual risk. The repo has survived four adversarial review passes on these tests. **Do not soften.**
Propter remLegal: Civil-law doctrine: a right "attached to the thing" rather than to a person — the civil-law mechanism for successor binding (the equivalent of common-law "running with the land").
Protocol feeGovernance: The recurring share (typical 2–5%) of distributions in each per-property governance vehicle that flows to Landseed PBC. **A parameter, not a principle** — can be adjusted without violating the architecture. The smaller it is, the stronger the *Howey* "efforts of others" defense.

R

Reg D 506(b) / 506(c)Legal: SEC Regulation D safe harbors for non-public offerings. **506(b)** permits a limited number of non-accredited investors and is the architecture's fallback if the perimeter fails. **506(c)** requires *all* investors to be accredited — unworkable for landowners. The architecture is designed to avoid needing Reg D at all. See `04-perimeter/02-howey-applied.md`.
Reg SLegal: SEC Regulation S: safe harbor for offerings made outside the US to non-US persons. Used here only in proposed *Reg S–style covenants* (resale restrictions, US-person identification) for foreign beneficiaries in US-wrapped DAOs (Q7).
Registry functionEntities: The Layer 3 function that turns attested measurement into commodity: receives attestation receipts, verifies prerequisites, applies the issuance formula, mints Earth Credits, sells them, routes proceeds. Multi-key approval required; audit committee oversight. Initially a Landseed PBC function; transitions to the Methodology Foundation by Year 2+. **The most architecturally important coalition function — its integrity is the integrity of Earth Credits as a commodity.** See `05-interfaces/04-registry-function-specification.md`.
Reversal / catastrophic eventLifecycle: A material decline in a property's verified ecological condition (deliberate destruction, wildfire, hurricane, insect outbreak, methodology error) that invalidates previously issued credits. Triggers buffer-pool replacement of non-retired credits. Foundation pursues subrogation against destroying party.
Reves testLegal: The four-factor "family resemblance" test from *Reves v. Ernst & Young* (1990) for distinguishing notes that are securities from notes that aren't. Benefit units are categorically not notes (no principal, no maturity, no interest), but the test is run as belt-and-suspenders. See `04-perimeter/03-reves-applied.md`.

S

SEEA EA — System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Ecosystem AccountsMethodology: The UN statistical framework that organizes ecosystem extent, condition, and services accounts. EC-M-1.1's six dimensions (A1, A2, B1, B2, B3, C1) map to SEEA EA. The framework underwrites the methodology's institutional credibility. Listed in the paper-backup exhibit of every NRD-lite.
Sensor-to-credit walkthroughLifecycle: The end-to-end operational specification in `00-foundations/06-sensor-to-credit-walkthrough.md`: six phases from architecture-approved through deployment, initial assessment, sensor deployment, first full assessment, first credit issuance, and distribution + re-assessment. **The operational unlock — what unblocks first issuance.**
Servidumbre ecológicaLegal: The civil-law analogue to an in-gross conservation easement, recognized in Argentina and Ecuador (and Brazil's *servidão ambiental*). The likely VECR mapping in Spanish-speaking civil-law jurisdictions. See `03-jurisdictions/property-jurisdictions/`.
Signal MarketsEntities: Prediction markets on ecological outcomes (`earthmarkets.ai`). Autonomous market-making; participants forecast measurable Earth-system outcomes and are scored. **Cannot trade positions linked to a specific property's outcomes** — the architecture explicitly does not build property-specific markets. Status: partially live.
Six modules / Module familiesGovernance: The composable building blocks of every template: M1 Beneficiary Registry, M2 Governance, M3 Economics, M4 Mgmt Plan Ratification, M5 Attestation Hooks, M6 Upgrade Path. Each template is distinguished by the *configuration* of these modules, not by having different modules. See `02-governance-templates/02-modules.md`.
Sociedad de hecho / société de faitLegal: Civil-law analogues to common-law general partnership, tested in Argentina, Ecuador, and Madagascar respectively. Per-jurisdiction counsel review required for any non-US deployment with multiple beneficiaries.
Stage-by-stage co-signingLifecycle: The alignment-sequencing protocol: the architecture is reviewed and co-signed in seven sequential stages — bifurcation principle, NRD-lite, jurisdictional analysis, securities perimeter, governance templates, open questions, execution plan. Each stage requires confirmation before proceeding. **Co-architect sign-off is the gating prerequisite** for execution. See `07-execution/01-alignment-sequencing.md`.
Stewardship reserveGovernance: A per-property fund (5–25% of distributions per template) held within the wrapper LLC for property-specific stewardship (restoration, monitoring, management). Distinct from the buffer pool (which is Foundation-held and credit-denominated).
Sui generisLegal: "Of its own kind." Used in this repo for legal categories that don't fit standard private-property analysis — most notably US tribal trust lands, which require BIA engagement and bespoke treatment under Template C.
SupermajorityGovernance: A voting threshold above simple majority — typically 2/3, 3/4, or specific N-of-M for FPIC gates. Required for module upgrades, methodology version adoption, and (in Template C) FPIC checkpoints.

T

Template (A through G)Governance: The seven stakeholder-shape templates: A — Solo Landowner, B — Land Trust, C — Indigenous Co-Design, D — Corporate, E — Sovereign, F — Hybrid (multi-stakeholder), G — Stewardship-Only (Foundation-held). Six are audited products; **Template C is co-design, not template.** See `02-governance-templates/templates/`.
Templates not customizationPrinciples: Binding Principle 5: audited standardized templates for predictable stakeholder shapes; co-design framework only for Template C. Composability without discipline produces unauditable proliferation. **Custom DAOs per property destroy audit economics.**
Threat multiplierMethodology: A coefficient (typically 0.4–0.8 for credit issuance; risk tiers used for buffer rate ranging from <1.2 low to >2.0 frontier) that discounts ECI by the property's anthropogenic threat profile. Applied in the credit-issuance formula and in buffer-pool risk-tier assignment.
Three-archive commitmentMethodology: The architecture's archival redundancy for methodology documents: (1) Landseed's own systems, (2) third-party institutional archive (Software Heritage, Internet Archive), (3) IPFS or content-addressed storage successor. Plus a paper-backup exhibit recorded with the deed. Designed to survive 99 years against any single archival failure.
Tier 1Governance: Templates A, B, D, E, G: Vermont LLC + multi-sig wallet + operating agreement. **No smart contract.** Light distribution automation reads attestation receipts manually. Audit cost: operating-agreement legal review and treasury-security review.
Tier 2Governance: Templates C and F: smart-contract DAO with audited governance modules. Used only where multi-party FPIC, cultural-guardian veto, or cryptographic accountability genuinely add value. Audit cost: $200k initial library + per-deployment cost (Template C ~$80k–$120k; Template F ~$80k–$150k).
TNFDLifecycle: Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures: an ESG framework for nature-related financial disclosures. Driving early corporate buyer demand for Earth Credits. Aligned with Template D (Corporate).
Tractable jurisdictionPrinciples: A jurisdiction where all five legal-floor tests (property right not contract, recordable, runs with the land, alienable, enforceable) can be cleared with reasonable counsel work and *no statutory advocacy*. **All five named jurisdictions (USA, Argentina, Ecuador, Bangladesh, Madagascar) are tractable, with caveats. Tractable ≠ trivial.** See `01-nrd-lite/04-legal-floor.md` and `03-jurisdictions/CLAUDE.md`.
Trust directionPrinciples: The architectural rule that trust flows in *one* direction: methodology → attestations → registry → DAO/LLC. **Cycles are not permitted.** Coalition entities cannot trust DAOs that trust them back; the registry cannot defer to a DAO that defers to the registry. See `05-interfaces/01-trust-direction.md`.
Two-jurisdictional frameworkPrinciples: The structural reality that every deployment has *two* jurisdictions: a property jurisdiction (where the VECR is recorded — Vermont, Argentina province, Madagascar district, etc.) and a wrapper jurisdiction (where the Layer 2 entity is incorporated — Vermont, Marshall Islands, Singapore, etc.). Element 11 of the NRD-lite makes the choice-of-law explicit. See `03-jurisdictions/01-two-jurisdictional-framework.md`.

V

VCC — Variable Capital CompanyLegal: Singapore's Variable Capital Companies Act (2018) vehicle. Designed for fund structures, not DAOs; Tier 1 fit only. Used as Asia-Pacific override when Marshall Islands banking is unworkable.
VECR — Verified Ecological Condition RightLegal: The property right that NRD-lite conveys: a precise but generic right to measure, attest, and economically exploit the verified ecological condition of the property, as determined by Landseed's published methodology. Defined by methodology reference (not by enumerating carbon/biodiversity/ESS rights), so it survives credit-protocol changes. Local counsel may rename per jurisdiction. See `01-nrd-lite/02-load-bearing-elements.md` §2.

W

Wrapper LLC / Wrapper entityEntities: The Layer 2 legal entity that holds the VECR for one property: a Vermont LLC (Tier 1), Vermont BBLLC or Marshall Islands DAO LLC (Tier 2), or jurisdictional analogue. **One wrapper per property; never pooled across properties** (Principle 1). Bears the protocol fee, multi-sig treasury, distribution module.