1762 Carbonable NFTs to Fight Deforestation on Madagascar: The Manjarisoa Project.
Through this Carbonable Manjarisoa NFT sale (public mint date: January 26th), 8,000 tones of carbon will be removed, and dozens of endangered species of lemurs, birds, and frogs will thrive in the restored Manjariso forest.
In the last 60 years, Madagascar has lost almost half of its tropical rainforest. In 2017 only, 510,000 hectares (48.5 times the size of Paris!) were destroyed, making Madagascar the fourth most deforested country in the world. Additionally, because Madagascar has been physically separated from mainland Africa about 200 million years ago, many of the plants and animals that live on the island are endemic (i.e. found nowhere else in the world), making it an extremely important biodiversity hotspot. Scientists estimate that about 90% of the plants on Madagascar are endemic, while about 85% of animals are endemic.
Manjarisoa is a site located in the tropical inland region of Atsinanana on the East coast of Madagascar. This 680-hectare forest has undergone severe degradation mainly from slash-and-burn agricultural practices, overgrazing and illegal charcoal production. Additionally, it is currently threatened of being erased and transformed into ponds for industrial fish farming by an Asian industrial group. ForestCalling’s reforestation project is therefore essential to prevent such transformation from happening, and to protect and restore this secondary rainforest and the biodiversity it hosts.
ForestCalling has signed a provisional sale agreement to secure the site, and will complete the purchase of the 680 hectares in June 2022. The site being very large and for some parts, almost inaccessible, ForestCalling’s ecosystem restoration project will be divided into several phases. The Carbonable sale can be considered as a cornerstone of the project, as it will be used for the preparation of the reforestation campaigns (incubating the seedlings in the nursery, preparing the soil, etc.) and carrying them out between April and September 2023. It consists in the rehabilitation of 20,7 hectares of tropical forest, the future planting of 13,418 trees, and the creation of a carbon sink that will capture 8,000 tonnes of carbon in 20 years.
The methodology for choosing this project is twofold.
First, there is Carbonable’s screening criteria. We select projects that represent high-quality voluntary carbon credits (VCCs) with minimal risk and a high potential for success. To find these projects, we work with credible project developers. This means reviewing project developers' previous projects’ impact, and financial reports and checking their references to make sure they have a solid track record and meet the highest quality standards through internationally recognized certifications. We also only finance projects that actively support 3 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Then we read the due diligence of the project as released by the project certifier. In the due diligence, we expect not only to find a reliable estimate of additionality (how much carbon will be removed from the atmosphere) but also risk assessments that include baseline data, additionality, durability and a plan to avoid double counting.
Second, there is the project certifier’s screening criteria. Carbonable and Wildsense share many screening requirements. The primary requirements are based on carbon offset (additionality, durability, leakage). The secondary requirements are fulfillments of Sustainable Development Goals, and include social and biodiversity targets. And the additional screening requirements in the Wildsense risk assessment matrix include geopolitical risk, climate change risk, socio-economic risk, and landownership and management.
Before we back a project from Wildsense, we analyze the due diligence released by Wildsense, and make sure it is a good investment for our holders. The full due diligence report is also available for our holders.
