Environmentalists mint NFTs to save forests

“Environmentalists mint NFTs to save forests”, today’s headline seems almost an oxymoron, talking about NFTs saving forests is a bit unsettling but let’s get to the bottom of it.

For years now, people have been discussing and working to find a solution to the great problem of pollution created by blockchain technology and fortunately, in recent months, we are beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel!

In the meantime, however, environmentalists have found a good solution to the problem, making, as a wise man once said, their enemy their greatest friend! 

With the great NFT boom, the activity and volume traded on blockchains has increased exponentially, so environmentalists, who have always fought to save the Amazon forest, have decided to use NFTs to achieve a temporary solution to the problem.

Moss Amazon forest NFT

Moss is the Brazilian environmental company we are talking about, the company that has decided to protect the Amazon forest by tokenizing it and reselling the property in the form of NFTs.

First of all, to be more precise, they bought a huge slice of the Amazon rainforest and only then divided it into hectares and tokenized it.

So now the rights to each hectare are represented by NFT, which are trading on the market.

In this way, stakeholders who buy the certified property are indirectly contributing to the maintenance of the forest itself.

Moss has therefore found a way for anyone who believes in the cause to help conserve the world’s largest rainforest.

The tokens in question were put on the OpeanSea platform for a pre-sale round and sold out in less than an hour!

From the data collected by Moss, it seems that this initiative could indeed have a major impact on the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest.

What you get when you buy these NFTs

It is worth noting that buyers of Moss Amazon NFTs now own a piece of the huge forest, a plot of land the size of a football pitch. 

They have also received an encrypted digital certificate of ownership, attesting to the authenticity and governance of the forest areas.

The Moss company’s wish and hope is to see the area transformed into a true “collector’s item”.

Luis Felipe Adaime is the CEO of Moss said: “Saving the Amazon is our goal and through blockchain technology, we will allow more and more people to be part of this dream. With the purchase of an area of 50 hectares, we have started a new movement to protect this region. 

One thing is certain: there will be more areas and NFTs available in the near future”.

After the purchase, the user does not have to do anything else.

The company acts as guardian and custodian of the plot of land and is also responsible for its preservation, as they have created a 30-year protection fund. 

It should be noted that 20% of all proceeds from the sale of the NFTs go to cover costs. These costs include patrolling the area, satellite imaging and security.

WWF also plays the NFT card

WWF-UK also launched its collection of non-fungible tokens, but a few hours later changed its mind and withdrew it from the market.

WWF-UK launched its collection of NFTs a few days ago with all the right intentions. The aim was to put digital works representing 13 endangered animal species on the market, obviously for charitable purposes.

After launching the project, however, the Gland-based international NGO stopped the auction after only 48 hours, following strong protests from environmental organizations.

The main argument used by the protesters concerned the environmental impact of blockchain and therefore NFTs. This impact cannot be denied.

In the face of general dissatisfaction, WWF-UK immediately decided to turn the clock back by withdrawing the collection and returning the money to users who had already made the purchase in the short time available.

However, WWF-UK emphasized that it did not want to abandon the initiative completely, promising to return to the subject once the problem of environmental impact had been resolved.

The launch, however, was a great success, with the association managing to sell 174 NFTs in a short space of time, accumulating a total of $46,000.

The issue does not receive unanimous support 

The strangest thing about this whole affair is not the change of direction by WWF-UK, but the lack of consensus within the organization on the issue.

In fact, while WWF-UK, after a timid attempt to open up to these new instruments, has decided to change course, the same organization in Germany has instead launched another collection called NFA – Non fungible Animals, thanks to which it has already accumulated more than 250,000 euros in funds.

The argument put forward by the headquarters of the German WWF concerns the type of blockchain used. 

To protect itself from criticism, the organization claims that its NFT project has a reduced environmental impact because it is launched on Polygon’s blockchain.

This claim is patently false in the eyes of experts, and it is also hard to believe that the NFT developers for the German WWF and the association itself are not really aware of the true state of affairs.