The Steering Group officially released The HCS Approach Toolkit Version 2.0: Putting No Deforestation into Practice on 3 May 2017.

This revised version incorporates the latest scientific research, feedback from on-the-ground trials as well as new topics and inputs from working groups of the HCS Approach Steering Group. The new toolkit also presents refinements, additions and important changes to the methodology, as a result of the ‘Convergence Agreement’ between HCS Approach and HCS Study in November 2016.

The toolkit is designed to standardise the methodology and to make it available to all practitioners. We will periodically issue updates to the toolkit, as well as new modules covering how to conserve, restore and monitor HCS forests.

We welcome input for the Steering Group on the implementation of the toolkit across different tropical regions in order to strengthen and refine the methodology. Please sign up for our Consultative Forum to provide comments and feedback.

The Toolkit V2.0 is available as below:

Language	Link
English	Module 1: The HCS Approach: an introduction, overview and summary
	Module 2: Social Requirements Implementation Guidance for the Social Requirements Social Requirements’ Training Materials
	Module 3: Integration of HCV, HCS Forest and FPIC
	Module 4: Forest and vegetation stratification
	Module 5: HCS Forest Patch Analysis and Protection
	Module 6: Issues under development in the HCS Approach
	Module 7: Assuring the quality of HCS Assessments
	HCSA Interim Guidance: ICLUP Development and Implementation
Bahasa	Modul 1: Pendekatan SKT: pendahuluan, gambaran umum dan ringkasan
	Modul 2: Persyaratan sosial Persyaratan Sosial direvisi pada tahun 2020. SR yang direvisi sedang diterjemahkan ke dalam bahasa Indonesia dan akan menggantikan versi ini pada bulan September 2020. Sementara itu, jika ada keraguan, silahkan merujuk ke versi bahasa Inggris.
	Modul 3: Integrasi Nilai Konservasi Tinggi (NKT), Hutan Stok Karbon Tinggi (SKT) dan Persetujuan atas Dasar Informasi di Awal Tanpa Paksaan (FPIC)
	Modul 4: Stratifikasi hutan dan vegetasi
	Modul 5: Analisis patch hutan Stok Karbon Tinggi dan perlindungannya
	Modul 6: Isu-isu yang tengah berkembang dalam Pendekatan SKT
	Modul 7: Menjamin kualitas penilaian SKT
French	Module 1: L’Approche HCS : Introduction, vue d’ensemble et aperçu
	Module 2: Exigences sociales Les Exigences Sociales ont été révisées en 2020. Les SR révisés sont en cours de traduction en français et les remplaceront d’ici septembre 2020. En attendant, en cas de doute, veuillez vous référer à la version en langue anglaise.
	Module 3: Intégration des approches Hautes Valeurs de Conservation (HVC), Haut Stock de Carbone (HCS), et Consentement libre, informé et préalable (CLIP)
	Module 4: Stratification végétale et forestière
	Module 5: Analyse et Protection des Parcelles de forêt HCS
	Module 6: Enjeux actuels liés à l’Approche HCS
	Module 7: Assurance qualité des évaluations HCS

The first version of the HCS Approach Toolkit was released in April 2015 and can be found here.

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HCSA Advice Notes

HCSA Advice Notes provide clarifications or interpretations of requirements in the HCSA toolkit and HCV-HCSA assessment manual to respond to technical queries that arise from the implementation of the HCSA methodology and the evaluation of HCSA and HCV-HCSA assessment reports.

HCSA Advice Notes	Topics Covered
Advice Note 1: HCV-HCSA Assessments	i. Use of national land cover classification systems ii. Number and location of forest inventory plots iii. Due diligence requirements iv. Local people’s lands for food security and livelihoods
Advice Note 2: HCV-HCSA Assessments	i. Social requirements ii. Assessment preparation iii. Social background study iv. Land tenure and use study
Advice Note 3: HCV-HCSA Assessments	Forest inventory plots
Advice Note 4: HCV-HCSA Assessments	i. Land cover classification ii. Ground truthing
Advice Note 5: HCV-HCSA Assessments	i. Patch analysis ii. Connectivity