Indigenous-Led Group Launches Cutting-Edge Biocultural Jaguar Credits

Quito, Ecuador, March 13, 2024 — Fundación Pachamama , Sharamentsa Achuar leaders and Regen Network Development PBC today announced the launch of the novel “Biocultural Jaguar Credits,” to protect ancestral lands, a way of life, and local jaguar habitat. Leveraging state-of-the-art monitoring processes and blockchain technology, these innovative project credits aim at the outset to protect 10,000 hectares of critical jaguar habitat in the intact Ecuadorian jungle.

In working to preserve their ancestral lands and cultural heritage, Indigenous forest stewards face the dual challenge of encroaching roads and modernization. As the financial allure of the forests grows, these stewards grapple with secretive cash offers for extractive activities that threaten the delicate balance of the forest ecosystem and create community conflicts.

This pilot conservation program aims to create and demonstrate a new fully transparent ecologic-economic model that both safeguards the Earth’s biosphere and enhances human wellbeing. Jaguars are important to the environment as an “umbrella species” — meaning a species whose protection indirectly also protects other species in the habitat — but are also classified as an endangered species. Pre-financing for this pilot Biocultural crediting approach is now live to support this innovative approach centered on indigenous territorial and cultural integrity.

The Achuar Sharamentsa community’s vision for their territory emphasizes sustainable and responsible practices, from land use to hunting and fishing. Furthermore, a robust monitoring and reporting plan and program supports the process for validating the credit issuance. In collaboration with Fundacion Pachamama and other experts, the plan includes local monitoring of land changes; satellite monitoring to help identify changes in land-use; and smartphone deployment to community members to capture images of land-use changes, among other processes designed to track and verify forest health. The jaguar population will be monitored by cameras placed throughout the local habitat.

“This pilot conservation program and project finance credit issuance is not merely a standalone initiative but a precursor to broader conservation efforts,” said Domingo Peas, president of the Amazon Sacred Headwaters Alliance. “Its success could lead the way for initiatives such as the ‘Achuar Nation Forest Generation Fund,’ covering 650,000 hectares, and potentially expand to encompass the entire Amazon Sacred Headwater Alliance, totaling 30 million hectares.”

With a focus on transparency and accountability, the credits are based on the peer-reviewed ERA (Ecosystem Regeneration Associates) Biodiversity Stewardship Methodology and issued on the open Regen Network Registry, where the credits are minted on blockchain as unique assets. These non-transferable credits allow early supporters to contribute to the project’s advancement during its initial stages through the pre-finance mechanism.

Initial partners and purchasers of the pre-sale credits include premium agave spirits producer and certified B Corp, Altos Planos, Inc. Elise Som, Co-Founder and Director of Sustainability for Altos Planos, which creates Mijenta Tequila and Tres Tribus mezcal, said, “Since we launched in September 2020, Altos Planos has taken a holistic approach to sustainability and prioritized innovation around responsible business practices. We are extremely excited to support this project, which we hope will help to introduce a new standard for Indigenous-led environmental protection programs and transparent, verifiable and meaningful credit issuance.”

The project’s official pre-sale launch event on March 2, 2024 in Denver, CO, marked the beginning of this transformative journey, bringing together stakeholders from across the world to support Indigenous-led conservation efforts as well as the protection of vital jaguar habitats. At the event, attendees pre-purchased $16,000 USD worth of credits, with another $27,500 USD committed by April 15. These purchases and commitments to date constitute approximately two-thirds of the initial credits available.

For more information about the “Biocultural Jaguar Credits” and how to support its mission with the pre-financing of the project, please visit their project page on Regen Network.

Supporting Partners:

-Regen Registry and Regen Network — platform for origination and sale of biodiversity credits

-Fundacion Pachamama — Ecuadorian Project Developer

-Amazon Sacred Headwaters Alliance, — Puyo, Ecuador

-The Pachamama Alliance, San Francisco.

-Stoknes Futures, Oslo.

About Fundación Pachamama

Since 1997, Fundación Pachamama has been at the forefront of advocating for Human Rights and the Rights of Nature. Operating primarily in the south-central region of the Ecuadorian Amazon, the NGO has been instrumental in the protection of the rainforest, advocating for the self-determination of indigenous communities, and promoting climate justice. Through collaborative alliances with social organizations, indigenous groups, and international partners, Fundación Pachamama extends its reach to safeguard the Amazon Headwaters in both Ecuador and Peru. With a commitment to fostering ecological transition and promoting the creation of a just society in harmony with nature, the foundation continues to make significant strides towards its mission.

For more information about Fundación Pachamama and its initiatives, please visit www.pachamama.org.ec or contact [email protected]

About Regen Network Development: Regen Network Development (RND) develops software and tools to catalyze climate-impact investment in ecological regeneration projects.

About Regen Registry: is an ecological service registry operating in the voluntary market that aims to support climate action by accelerating the adoption of nature-based solutions, which regenerate and restore natural ecosystems. Pulling on a combination of tools from Web3 and open source movements, Regen Registry aims to democratize and invigorate regenerative finance by empowering communities of Earth stewards, scientists, technologists, and climate entrepreneurs to govern the systems used to create new ecological assets.