Using people power and Blockchain to combat Rainforest deforestation, thats a future we can all dance towards :)

Interview from Huffington Post...

Rainforest conservation is not a new topic. However the situation is not getting much better, with over seventy-five percent of the rainforest already destroyed. Entrepreneur Ricardo Porteus and his business partner Tom Murray have a created an innovative way to try and save what is left of the planet’s remaining rainforest. Dance For One Meter allows for those attending club events and festivals around the world to save one square meter of rainforest at a time. They plan to spread their program beyond Brazil and to help create a mass movement. Find out more about this “high tech not for profit” below, in an interview with Ricardo Porteus.

How did the idea for Dance For One Meter come about? IWhere did the idea of ‘Dance For One Meter’ come from? I’ve spent the best part of twenty years working in the nightlife industry and marketing space, whilst based in Ibiza I was the digital and marketing director for the Pacha Group, after leaving Pacha I then built and launched an artist platform called bleep.me, here I was lucky enough to be asked by one of my investors if I wanted to join him at the Burning Man Festival. Fast forward a few months and I was riding back to camp at sunrise and I accidentally crashed into a guy, we began laughing and chatting, the conversation flowed into how incredible events like Burning Man are and how they pull a diverse group of people from around the world. The power these events have in uniting people from many different countries and different backgrounds is amazing, if only we could harness that creative power for a good cause. 

That guy was Tom Murray, he told me he was involved in conservation and owned a rainforest preserve in Brazil, he was starting a new project with patented technology that overlays a grid system to divide land into square meters redeemable via an educational web platform, this got my mind racing. 

I was working on a festival ticketing platform at the time and we started talking about ways to merge them together to increase activation and social sharing. It was about 18 months later that we really started to investigate if there was synergy between our two backgrounds. Figuring out how we could do it technically while actually saving the rainforest. We managed to crack that about twelve months ago.

And how does it work exactly? One ticket, one person, one meter at a time saved forever is the simple concept. We lay a virtual grid system over the land that we save, we then convert this to individual meters that are redeemable and activated when anybody purchases a ticket from one of our partnered events. They can then click a link where they redeem their square meter and view it on the Cuipo Preserve via Google Earth technology. 

By fundraising just short of four million dollars for the Cuipo Foundation, it enabled us to purchase and save the first large area of our Brazilian rainforest preserve. We then launched the brand and built the patented technology that saves and protects rainforest forever. All transactions and land saved are now registered in the blockchain its the only way to do this for total clarity,

But you already own the land? To save more Rainforest you need to own a rainforest, so we purchased the first title deeds and everything that comes in now goes into a 501(c)3 non profit that purchases and protects further plots of land. Dance For One Meter and Cuipo working with the Rainforest Trust have programs working with local farmers to educate them on rainforest conservation. What we’re trying to do is increase the size of the land. If we can increase the size and value of the land, it allows us to protect it and makes it difficult for companies to buy and destroy those areas. 

Why is rainforest conservation important? Rainforest used to cover as much as 12% of the Earth’s land surface, or about 7 million mi2 (18 million km2), but today less than 7% of Rainforest is left. Since 1960, more than half of the world’s tropical rainforests have disappeared and the rate of destruction is still accelerating. Rainforests are vital to humanity’s life support system. Our earth’s population of 7.5 billion people and billions more animals depend on them, in less than 40 years that becomes 9 billion people! In the last 40 years we have lost 50% of all rainforests due to deforestation for livestock production, planting of GMO crops and logging!, An area the size of the United Kingdom is destroyed every single year! There is no more time for talking, its time for action!

What has the response been? The response has been fantastic, people really understand the simplicity of ‘Dance For One Meter’ when you’re out having fun you are dancing in roughly a meter of space. It’s your own personal space that we are trying to protect. People can physically see and understand the area that they can save by attending an event. One Meter could save one tree, one monkey, 20 birds or hundreds of insects so its instantly resonates.

It’s about minimum effort and commitment from people whilst achieving mass attention and education on the global problem we are all facing. From the event promoters it’s been a one hundred percent success rate, we are expanding fast and need to team up to handle the demand, the feedback we are getting is very positive.

What challenges are you facing? Technologically there are a few challenges, moving everything to the blockchain for instance was difficult, its a new exciting space, total transparency is what we all demand and this technology is allowing us to deliver that like never before. We have some incredible partners in Brazil who work to constantly survey and protect the land which is a resource heavy and dangerous job to do. But constant persistence and knowing this is working and scaling quickly keeps us pushing forwards in a positive way.

Do you have any additional events happening? We have many coming up in New York, London and Ibiza. D41M Asia also kicks in shortly where we are partnering with southern hemisphere festivals. As well as a huge 2018 summer season in the making, we expect to be live on over 2000 events next year. 

What are your long term goals? We have a solid five year plan that aims to double every year in terms of events and continually expand the land we are protecting whilst educational people globally on Rainforest preservation and regeneration.

We are now working with local partners in Indonesia and Panama to discuss bringing attention to their own rainforest initiatives. D41M is not just about electronic music, we are focused on all ‘live’ events of all genres in all destinations, the global reach and possibilities are infinite and we aim to drive forwards and make this a truly global initiative.

Can people get involved without attending a festival event? Dance For One Meter is focusing on you attending a local partnered event to have fun and save rainforest and spread the message. But you can buy T-Shirts, water bottles, gift cards, toys and accessories from the Cuipo Foundation website or partners as all products save rainforest automatically. 

More information on Dance For One Meter is available HERE.