Brazil has decided to use NFTs for saving the Amazon Forest.
In Brazil, a company called Nemus on Friday started selling NFTs that gave buyers unique sponsorship of different sized tracts of forest, with the proceeds going to preserve the trees, regenerate clear-cut areas, and foster sustainable development.
“Token holders will not be the owners of the land itself but will have access to key information about its preservation, from satellite imagery to licensing and other documentation,” said Nemus founder Flavio de Meira Penna.
He said Nemus had sold 10% of an initial offer of tokens for 8,000 hectares on just the first day.
“My guess is this will accelerate rapidly in coming weeks,” Penna told Reuters, adding that blockchain technology would ensure transparency in the use of the funds.
Plots come in a range of sizes from a quarter of a hectare to 81 hectares (0.6 to 200 acres), which buyers will be able to locate with online maps.
NFTs for the smallest plots sell for $150 and the largest fetch $51,000, said Penna, who is hoping to raise $4 million to $5 million to buy an additional 2 million hectares of land already under negotiations in the municipality of Pauini in Amazonas state.
Besides being used for preserving the forest, Penna said the funds would support sustainable development efforts like harvesting acai berries and Brazil nuts by local communities in Pauini, which is the size of Belgium.
Each token comes with artwork of an Amazon plant or animal and is processed by San Francisco-based Concept Art House, a content developer and publisher for NFTs.
People have criticized the use of NFTs for sustainable purposes as using blockchain technology requires intense computing power, which, in turn, drives up the demand for electricity generation that releases climate-warming greenhouse gases.
Penna dismissed that view, saying preservation of threatened areas of the Amazon far outweighs the environmental cost of NFT transactions.
