The Buktika Tika Standard

Governance and Technical Leadership

Correct evidence. Correct claims. Correct consent.

A version-controlled correctness framework for work that must remain truthful when it is funded, reported, inspected, and challenged.

The discipline is the product.

What the Tika Standard governs

Correct enough to stand

The Buktika Tika Standard governs whether a Buktika claim is correct enough to be offered, funded, reported, audited, refreshed, and told without pretending to be something it is not.

It defines the full path for evidence collection, verification, documentation, and review. That path begins with the field walk and ends in the auditor's file. The Tika Standard is version-controlled. Every Biodiversity Evidence Pack produced by Buktika identifies the exact STS version used to produce it. The pack also records the evidence period, claim boundary, permitted wording, and supporting proof trail.

Lane separation

Four lanes. Four claim boundaries.

ECO-C

Eco Conservation

Protection and non-regression of ecological value that already exists.

ECO-R

Eco Restoration

Repair, recovery, planting, erosion control, habitat work, and accepted restoration outcomes.

MDX

MDX Human Restoration

MamaDEX activities, community services, dignity work, and human restoration outcomes.

EDU

EDU Education

EduTower, Veldskool, field learning, curricula, and education evidence packs.

Each lane has its own evidence requirements, claim permissions, and forbidden claim classes. Claims may not move between lanes without separate evidence for each.

Claim boundary

What the Tika Standard does not claim to be

  • Not an ISO certification
  • Not a carbon credit standard
  • Not a biodiversity credit standard
  • Not a statutory offset scheme

It is a correctness standard. Its discipline ensures that an assurance team can inspect, sample, and challenge every Buktika claim before the claim is made. Where specific assurance routes apply, the Tika Standard is designed to be read alongside them.

See the ISO Assurance Routes
Technical accountability

A named methodology owner

Herman J van der Merwe

Professional Engineer, registered with the Engineering Council of South Africa

Chartered Professional Engineer, registered with Engineering New Zealand

Founder, Buktika

The Tika Standard was developed by and remains under the professional responsibility of a named methodology owner and accountable technical author. Every Biodiversity Evidence Pack carries a named technical author with professional registration and professional accountability. That accountability is not a marketing claim. It is a professional obligation enforceable by the relevant engineering councils.

Assurance maturity

Independent Review Pathway

This pathway shows where Buktika is today and how independent review will develop.

  1. TodayDocumented internal standard, version-controlled, professionally authored and accountable.
  2. NextIndependent ecological review of the Eco Conservation and Eco Restoration lane criteria.
  3. FollowingIndependent assurance review of the Tika Standard methodology by an appropriate third party.
  4. FutureAccredited validation or verification where the claim type and accreditation scope allow.

Tika defines what may be truthfully claimed.

Tekmerion proves whether the claim can stand.

Controlled documents

The published Tika document family

The Buktika Tika Standard comprises the founding whitepaper and its companion normative criteria. The founding axioms govern; the criteria make the rules operable as conformance tests.

BKT 17020:2026 · v1.0.1

STS Umbrella Criteria

The normative criteria document: pass/fail rules, eligibility tests, evidence tiers, claims boundaries, and conformance tests.

Download the Umbrella Criteria (PDF)

Questions about claim boundaries, evidence governance, or independent review?

Contact Buktika