Effinature, public action
Biodiversity certification at the service of local authorities
Municipalities, inter-municipal bodies, metropolises: Effinature helps you require and showcase biodiversity in the operations across your territory, from public buildings to urban developments, with proof delivered by IRICE, a third-party certification body, that substantiates your commitments.
Certification by IRICE
the certification body
ISO/IEC 17065
third-party certification
Assessment and decision
by IRICE, as a third party
Public registry
of certified operations
Cofrac accreditation No. 5-0655 · Certification of products, processes and services · ISO/IEC 17065 · Scope available on www.cofrac.fr. This accreditation covers the EFFINATURE and EFFINATURE HVE certification programmes.
What certification brings you
Three reasons to certify the operations in your territory
Exemplary public procurement
Embedding a standard into your specifications, works contracts and design competitions sets a clear, measurable and verifiable level of ambition. You ask for results assessed by a third party, not mere intentions.
Nature in the city and climate adaptation
Unsealing soils, greening spaces, infiltrating stormwater, fighting heat islands: Effinature precisely assesses these ecological functions to steer the quality of your projects and adapt your territory to climate change.
Enforceable third-party proof
To objectify your commitments (net zero land take, planning documents, renaturation trajectory), certification provides verification by a third party, IRICE, rather than a self-declaration. Enforceable commitments, to the benefit of democratic transparency.
Why a local authority commits to biodiversity
Local authorities are on the front line of the collapse of the living world and of climate change. They run operations that structure their territory: schools, sports facilities, housing, public-building refurbishments, redevelopment of squares and streets, parks and green spaces. Each of these operations can either deepen soil sealing or become a tangible step towards renaturation. By writing biodiversity requirements into its projects, a local authority acts on assets it directly controls and sets an example for every actor in its territory.
Exemplarity and public procurement
Exemplary public procurement is now expected by residents and financial partners alike. By embedding a biodiversity certification standard into its specifications, works contracts and design competitions, the authority sets a clear, measurable and verifiable level of ambition. It no longer simply states intentions: it asks its project owners and their contractors for results assessed by a third party independent of the project owner. This approach safeguards public spending and makes environmental commitments enforceable, to the benefit of democratic transparency.
Biodiversity and nature in the city
Bringing nature back into the city goes beyond planting trees: it means rebuilding living soils, restoring ecological continuity, supporting ordinary wildlife and managing water as close as possible to where it falls. Effinature precisely assesses these ecological functions on each operation, based on concrete evidence rather than declarations. The authority thus shares a common language with its developers and social landlords to steer the ecological performance of its projects, neighbourhood by neighbourhood.
Climate adaptation, net zero land take and soil unsealing
The Zero Net Land Take objective and adaptation to climate change are redefining how we build and develop. Unsealing schoolyards, greening public spaces, infiltrating stormwater and fighting heat islands have become necessities. Effinature makes it possible to substantiate these efforts: the standard assesses land sobriety, soil life, water management and the climate comfort of outdoor spaces. Certification becomes a proof tool to demonstrate, with figures to back it up, a territory's renaturation trajectory.
Embedding it in planning documents
A local authority can go beyond a single project by writing the certification requirement into its planning documents: development and programming guidelines, inter-municipal local plans, development charters or agreements with operators. The Effinature standard offers a stable and recognised framework to express these expectations, avoiding subjective criteria. Certified operations feed the monitoring of public biodiversity policies and support the dialogue with the State, water agencies and regional partners.
The right standard
Which standard for which type of operation
Effinature offers standards tailored to the nature of each operation. For a new build (school, facility, housing, office), the NCO standard assesses ecological performance from design to delivery. For a refurbishment or an operation on existing assets, the EVO standard sets the requirements that establish the biodiversity gains achieved. For development operations (mixed-use zones, subdivisions, public spaces, landscaped outdoor areas), the HOR standard applies. An HVE-type follow-up finally embeds the approach over time. Your technical teams choose the most relevant standard for each project, and a single territory can combine several standards across its various operations.
NCO 8.1
New construction
Housing, offices, mixed-use. 2 phases: design and construction.
Learn more →EVO 8.1
Renovation
Operations on existing buildings.
Learn more →HOR 8.1
Development
Mixed-use zones (ZAC), subdivisions, public spaces, roads.
Learn more →HVE 8.1
High ecological value
Performance does not stop at handover.Performance maintained through recurring conformity checks.
Learn more →Third-party proof to objectify commitments
Effinature's strength lies in the independence of the assessment. Certification is issued by IRICE, a third-party certification body, which carries out the field assessment and then makes the certification decision with full impartiality. A Biodiversity Partner, a professional qualified by IRICE, may support the authority beforehand, but never takes part in the assessment. This framework, described on the IRICE website, guarantees the authority that its commitments rest on enforceable verification rather than self-assessment. Effinature covers the whole process, from a pre-diagnostic through to a signed certification.
The journey
How to start a certification
Registration
Account and SIRENE data, free, in a few minutes.
Application
Operation, Biodiversity Partner, target standard.
Review and contract
IRICE reviews admissibility, the contract is signed online.
Certification
An assessor is appointed, IRICE decides, the certificate is listed in the public registry.
2 to 4 months between the application and the decision, as a guide.
Ready to showcase the biodiversity of your territory?
Create your account and submit your certification request, or explore the standards suited to your operations first.
Training your teams.
A one-day course allows your in-house teams to understand what biodiversity changes in a project, to know what to ask an ecologist for, and to check what they are given.
7 hours · No prerequisite