Questions and answers

No. The project is about forests being recognised and paid for the services they provide. Blockchain is the tool we use for the forest's digital identity because it is transparent, secure and cannot be altered: it acts as a digital passport that proves the forest's identity and the authenticity of its ecological data.

A unique non-fungible token (NFT) that represents one specific forest. It records what makes that forest unique and lets people and organisations recognise it and engage with it as a living entity. Solarpunk Forest in Costa Rica holds token ID 1. See its identity

A record of the service it paid for. A company leases the forest's capacity to store its emissions and pays the forest for it; for each tonne of CO₂ stored, it receives a token minted on the forest's NFT. Tokens are not a tradeable asset: they prove that the company paid this forest for a measured service. The NFT itself is the forest's identity and stays with the forest's owner.

Because its services are not free to provide. Much of the western world has already cut its forests for timber, yet expects the countries that kept theirs to keep providing carbon storage, clean water and climate regulation for free. Just as no one expects a farmer to give away food because the land is there, we cannot expect forest owners to conserve forests for everyone else's benefit with nothing in return. With deforestation still happening worldwide, paying forests to stay standing is a necessity, not an option.

One tonne of CO₂ that the forest actually removed from the atmosphere in a given year: its Stored Carbon Increment. Tokens are minted once a year on the forest's NFT for the verified increment, so each one can be traced back to the forest and the year that produced it. Carbon is the first ecosystem service we tokenise; others, such as water regulation and biodiversity, can follow as they become measurable.

With our Stored Carbon Increment (SCI) methodology. Every tree in a permanent research plot is measured each year, and peer-reviewed allometric equations chosen for the forest type (for Solarpunk Forest, Chave et al. 2014 for tropical trees), adapted to the forest's species and geographical context, turn those measurements into biomass, carbon and CO₂. A second method, based on IPCC default factors, cross-checks the result. Manual measurements started in October 2023. For continuous, real-time monitoring, three custom-built dendrometers on a LoRaWAN network with a Starlink uplink are now being deployed (a prototype); AEI and the Forest API are planned. Read the SCI methodology

The methodology is currently being reviewed and updated. For independent scientific review, we are in discussions with universities in Romania and Costa Rica about including it in a research grant.

Back into the forest: protective measures, monitoring technology and AI that represents the forest's interests. Local communities are paid for the conservation and stewardship work they do. More on how it works

Most of the income goes back into the forest and its stewards. The exact split between the forest, local stewards and Solarpunk Enterprises will be set before the marketplace launches.

The land is privately owned by the founders, Camelia and Dacian Brandas, who also hold the forest's NFT.

Because tokens are issued every year for the carbon the forest actually added that year, damage shows up directly in the next measurement: a damaged forest adds less carbon, so fewer tokens are issued. A drop in the annual increment also triggers an investigation into its cause and a response to protect the forest.

Between measurements, we and local stewards are regularly in the forest; the dendrometers now being deployed, and later satellite monitoring, add continuous checks. Tokens issued for earlier years remain valid as the record of the service a company paid for in that year.

Once the pilot is working, we will repeat the model with forests in other regions. If you own or steward a forest, tell us about it.

It should be a natural or naturally regenerating forest, with clear ownership or stewardship rights, protected from logging while it takes part, with room for a research plot and sensors, and local people who can look after it. The criteria and steps in full

The founders, Camelia and Dacian Brandas, who spent 15 years as project and product managers in finance and supply chains before dedicating themselves to forest conservation. The project has been privately financed since it started in July 2023. About us

Visits are possible by arrangement. Write to us and we will find a date.