This is a chapter from the Token Economy Series. All subchapters are collapsed under their subchapter headings to make the page more readable. Find copyright information on this text and about the book an the end of the page.
Rebalance Earth is working on a token system that incentivizes the maintenance of keystone species such as African forest elephants through the issuance of biodiversity tokens. Their goal is to fund local communities to protect the forest elephants through the issuance and sale of tokens that represent a mix of carbon credits (referring to the elephant’s carbon sequestration services), and biodiversity credits (referring to the elephant’s contribution to the survival of other plant and animal life). Per day of proof of the elephant's existence, the respective amount of CO2 certificates and biodiversity credits is issued. A network of sensors will be used to monitor and verify the location, health and safety of the forest elephants and also detect poachers and other negative human activities within the protected area. At the time of writing this book, Rebalance Earth is in the process of launching a pilot project in partnership with the government of Liberia and a number of other local and global entities.
Disclaimer: The analysis of this use case was carried out based on the information provided by Walid Al Saqqaf and Tony Vernall of Rebalance Earth in a series of interviews, in which they helped me understand the token system they are planning to implement. The system outlined here is still a work in progress. Project implementation depends on the political goodwill of the participating government actors. Details might change before the system reaches the implementation stage. The elephant use case analyzed in this chapter is only one of a range of initiatives designed by Rebalance Earth. Other Rebalance Earth projects, which are also being conceptualized and prepared to be conducted across the globe, will have alternative mechanisms adapted to the particular needs of the respective ecosystem, i.e. the species affected and the humans protecting the species.