A wetland restoration project in Italy is set to generate a batch of tokenised biodiversity credits, with two European companies ready to buy them, Carbon Pulse has learned.
Located in the Po Valley, northern Italy, the project will be officially launched next month by Milan-based climate tech Green Future Project (GFP) and tokenised through Invest Conservation (IC) technology.
The methodology for the project was developed by GFP with Italian non-profit MedSea Foundation.
“This initiative is particularly relevant in light of the approval of the EU’s Nature Restoration Law,” Marco Caselli, CMO at GFP, told Carbon Pulse.
The bill, which aims to restore at least 30% of EU habitat types and 20% of the bloc’s land and sea areas by 2030, could play a critical role in increasing attention to nature restoration projects in Italy, he said.
The Po Valley, the largest wetland in Italy, has experienced increasing rates of biodiversity loss over the past decades, mainly due to the conversion of the natural wetlands into agricultural areas.
“We’re confident this project will draw interest from investors,” Caselli said. “We’re already in conversation with some big European organisations interested in financing it.”
THE FRAMEWORK
Under the framework, an IC biodiversity token represents one hectare of land protected for 50 years, with payments made upfront.
GFP platform verifies the project achievements by leveraging satellite imagery, soundscape, camera traps, and soil assessments. Tokens are then listed by IC on blockchain platform Solana.
Blockchain is increasingly seen as a go-to solution for verifying and trading units, with environmental credit platform Regen Network among the early movers in the space.
Last month, financial technology platform Biota released a methodology for creating tokenised biodiversity credits, with details on how to ensure projects meet integrity standards and units are tradeable.
“On some projects we collaborate with IC, such as in the Ecuadorian Choco. This model allows us to increase the share of revenues that actually reach the ground, as there are no middlemen involved,” Caselli said.
“Up to 90% of the money generated through IC token sales goes to the project developer, compared to 40% in traditional carbon market schemes.”
An increasing number of restoration projects are being developed in northern Italy, including some seeking to scale the voluntary biodiversity credit market.
Conservation group We are here Venice has recently finalised the implementation of a benchmarking methodology to measure the biodiversity baseline within Venice’s salt marshes, in a bid to gather solid data and attract high-integrity investments for restoration.
Italian companies are looking with “massive interest” at the biodiversity credit market, the CEO of consultancy Etifor Alessandro Leonardi told Carbon Pulse in June.
By Sergio Colombo – sergio@carbon-pulse.com
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