MY CELL – resource based NFT marketplace to provide funding for micro-forests management

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Francisco d'Orey

[GENERAL] Email address of main applicant

franciscoxfpdorey@gmail.com

Additional applicants

Hugo Vieira - hugoangv@gmail.com

[GENERAL] Please specify how many months you expect your project to last (from 2-12 months)

12

[GENERAL] Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated into English from another language.

No

[GENERAL] Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

Yes

[GENERAL] If YES, please describe what the dependency is and why you believe it is essential for your project’s delivery. If NO, please write “No dependencies.”

Although this is not a direct dependency, this project aims to be a part of the implementation of a broader approach to solving the lack of forest in industrialized countries. So this marketplace and NFT development is intended to work with the open-source forest plan and the Mycelium Foundation for real implementation.

[GENERAL] Will your project’s output/s be fully open source?

No

[GENERAL] If NO, please describe which outputs are not going to be open source. If YES, please write “Project will be fully open source.”

Project won’t be open source.

[METADATA] Category of proposal

NFTs

[METADATA] SDG rating

SDG goals:

• End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
• Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
• Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
• Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

 

SDG subgoals:

• By 2030, reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities, including by paying special attention to air quality and municipal and other waste management
• By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities
• Support positive economic, social and environmental links between urban, peri-urban and rural areas by strengthening national and regional development planning
• Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries
• By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements
• By 2020, promote the implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests, halt deforestation, restore degraded forests and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation globally
• By 2030, combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil, including land affected by desertification, drought and floods, and strive to achieve a land degradation-neutral world
• By 2030, ensure the conservation of mountain ecosystems, including their biodiversity, in order to enhance their capacity to provide benefits that are essential for sustainable development
• Take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of biodiversity and, by 2020, protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species
• Promote fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and promote appropriate access to such resources, as internationally agreed
• By 2020, integrate ecosystem and biodiversity values into national and local planning, development processes, poverty reduction strategies and accounts
• Mobilize and significantly increase financial resources from all sources to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity and ecosystems
• By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists and fishers, including through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets and opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment
• By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality

 

Key Performance Indicator (KPI):

• Forest area as a proportion of total land area
• Proportion of important sites for terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity that are covered by protected areas, by ecosystem type
• Progress towards sustainable forest management
• Coverage by protected areas of important sites for mountain biodiversity
• Mountain Green Cover Index
• Official development assistance on conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity; and (b) revenue generated and finance mobilized from biodiversity-relevant economic instruments
• Red List Index

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

THE PROBLEM

The European Environment Agency (EEA) recently estimated that over 80% of Europe's natural habitats are degraded and missing biodiversity. 

European ecosystems are in urgent need of concerted restoration efforts both inside existing designated protected areas but also outside these spaces, such as in managed forests, agricultural lands, seas, and urban areas. 

Restoring damaged rivers, lakes, wetlands, forests, grasslands, marine habitats and other ecosystems would not only improve the overall resilience and quality of nature in Europe, but would bring many broader societal benefits. For example, the health of habitats for pollinators, such as bees and beetles, is critical for long-term food security in Europe. The condition of forests and wetlands is vital for climate change mitigation, and healthy ecosystems also provide better protection from extreme weather events and pollution.

(information from the EEA's briefing on "The importance of restoring nature in Europe").

Almost every project that focus on increasing biodiversity or on carbon offset, focus on increasing forest spaces in developing countries, although those are usually the countries not responsible for most carbon emissions. Also, modern agricultural practices tend to decrease space that was occupied by native plants and was once used by animal and insect species as a refuge. Since land is usually more expensive in developed countries, land owners seek to maximize profit per square meter, offsetting their carbon emissions to under developed countries. Even if it is compensated elsewhere, this creates a lack of biodiversity where it is actually needed (As reported by the EEA).

OUR APPROACH

Our focus is to create a mycelium of a decentralized network of micro-forests that are present where biodiversity is actually missing and is needed. These micro-forests will also be seeded with local natural mushroom mycelium to act not only as a symbiont in root development, but also to provide local populations with edible mushrooms that were once traditional to these areas. Also, a great number of the animal and insect species are natural predators of pests and plant diseases and could help in reducing the application of pesticides in modern agriculture.

These micro-forests would be a safe haven to birds, insects and plants that are becoming more and more scarce in developed countries. The implementation of water reservoirs, together with local species will also become important fire barriers to today's more frequent wildfires. We aim to create a replicable open-source model, that will be community built and can be implemented in several countries with the same success rate, depending on simple solutions for micro water management, natural native plant selection and priority to species on the Red List Index, and where everyone can play an important role from individuals to companies wanting to offset their carbon emissions in their own area of influence, contrasting with current greenwashing options.

Furthermore, by exclusively planting native trees, we will select species that exhibit greater resilience against wildfires. While these trees alone cannot halt the spread of fires, they act as a vegetal barrier, effectively impeding the rapid advancement of burning areas. Remarkably, these tree species possess the ability to regenerate and flourish as green plants in the following year. Ingeniously, our team is designing solutions to extract water from the air. Yes, you read that correctly! A substantial amount of freshwater exists in the atmosphere at any given time, though it remains imperceptible to us. Nonetheless, simple yet effective techniques are being deployed worldwide to capture and utilize this airborne water for irrigation, human and animal consumption. In arid and sun-drenched regions, these innovative methods can accelerate forest growth and ensure the well-being of diverse plant and animal species.

THE PLAN

With each micro forest establishment, we will issue a set number of NFT's that represent a part of that forest's biodiversity and are traceable to it, as a means of funding the planting and ongoing maintenance of these valuable ecosystems. The fundamental principle behind our NFT is to provide decentralized funding, ensuring that the CO2 captured is effectively stored underground and that we bring biodiversity and natural habitats back to where they are needed. Our vision is to cultivate an inclusive ecosystem where anyone can contribute by acquiring these NFT's, thereby becoming an active participant in the restoration and sustenance of our precious forests.

[IMPACT] How does your proposed solution address the challenge and what benefits will this bring to the Cardano ecosystem?

PROJECT CONTEXT

Our whole project focuses on 3 main targets. Developing the replicable model, implementing the support NFT (MYCELL) base for acquiring and maintaining the micro-forests, and creating the Mycelium Foundation that will acquire land and maintain these micro-forests. The Mycelium Foundation will also be responsible for developing other environmental and technological projects in the near future.

FIRST TARGET

The first main target is the replicable model that will be used to create these biodiversity spots. The Open Source Forest. You can find more information and support it here.

SECOND TARGET

The second main target will be this project. It will be 100% dependable on NMKR to create a simple and working solution for the NFT based support community to the project.

With the NFTs we aim to reach interested parties in becoming owners of a share of a forest. Our research indicates that a 80% of internet users with ages from 18-35 would be willing to help a project like this to plant trees and maintain the forest for decades. The fact that the forest will remain intact means everything in terms of real carbon sequestration in the ground. All Stakeholders, Cardano network members and NFT purchasers will be able to verify in situ the activities developed by the investment. We will share pictures of the fields before and during implementation of the forests. We will also share the calculations for additionality, measuring the amount of CO2 that the land would have captured if not addressed and the difference it will have because of the forest planted, so transparency in what would be and what it will become is clear to all the community.

We believe these forests will act as a bridge for people who aren't aware of the Cardano Network and who will get to know the projects via social media and understand the potential of Cardano and the Catalyst Fund.

NFT holders, whether individuals that want to support biodiversity, offset their emissions from traveling, farmers that want to increase biodiversity near their farms, cities that might benefit from a green space nearby to serve as a resting place for families and tourists or even companies that want to endorse environmental projects. All these stakeholders will be interested parties in acquiring their piece of biodiversity represented by an NFT linked to a specific coordinate or part of a micro-forest.

This project is also inline with the EEA's target of bringing back forests and wetlands to Europe's lacking ecosystem.

THIRD TARGET

The third main target, the Mycelium Foundation will have its main goal in implementing this network of micro-forests and developing other environmental and technological solutions based on the Cardano blockchain.

[IMPACT] How do you intend to measure the success of your project?

We will measure adoption Rate: The number of stakeholders, interested parties and community members, actively purchasing the NFT. Also, we will record all transactions of each NFT to understand the valuation of the NFT and indicating the level of engagement and utilization.

Customer Satisfaction: Feedback and ratings provided by users, reflecting their level of satisfaction and reliability in the project as a whole. Positive feedback and high satisfaction scores indicate that the NFT is meeting expectations.

[IMPACT] Please describe your plans to share the outputs and results of your project?

Website: Our dedicated website will provide comprehensive information about our NFT for Decentralized Forest. This page will be as a central hub for posting updates, reports on our progress and relevant news.

Social Media and Blog Posts: Social media platforms will be a stage one primary means of communication, to share project updates, milestones, and significant achievements. We hope with these channels to reach a broader audience and engage with the Cardano community, influencers and strong climate change actors.

Blog Posts and Newsletters: Publish regular updates, milestones, and user success stories through blog posts and newsletters. Data Analytics and Impact Reports: Analyze usage data and compile periodic reports to highlight key metrics and the project's impact.

The purpose of this project is to start using it with the other activities we will develop in parallel to implement this idea into the real world. The Open Source Forest and the Mycelium Foundation for in-ground implementation.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability?

Our ability to carry out this project is justified on the fact that we are a cohesive team with members that understand and work closely with the CO2 markets, forest and rural development and sustainability, but also active members in the Cardano community and with all the required technological expertise.

All our team members have made their professional lives working in top companies and are recognised as experts in their field of action.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] What are the main goals for the project and how will you validate if your approach is feasible?

As stated before, this project is part of a broader approach to bringing ecosystems back to pollution sources and places where biodiversity is scarce.

So the specific goals to this project in particular are:

• Develop a marketplace where NFT's that represent part of each forest's biodiversity will be minted;
• Mint the early adopters collection;
• Attract an amount of first early adopters (individuals, but mainly companies) that will allow for the implementation of the Mycelium Foundation's second micro-forest (go to the Costs Spreadsheet to see land acquisition and forest implementation costs)

These objectives are straightforward and are achievable either with the creation of the Mycelium Foundation on an early stage, as also with the creation of the Foundation on a second stage if funds for that part are not secured during this project's implementation timeline.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed breakdown of your project’s milestones and each of the main tasks or activities to reach the milestone plus the expected timeline for the delivery.

Full extensive description of the milestones and outputs is shown on the link on the bottom of this section.

But here's a brief description of the milestones and activities for this project. Since our focus is to restore forest, our milestones are named over trees and bushes native to Europe:

1. Lavandula pedunculate => to be delivered in the first 1/4 of the implementation year
2. Branding and design => The key activities are related to branding and design of website, logo and branding package;
3. Legal => list of legal issues to adress.
4. Rosmarinus officinalis => to be delivered in the second 1/4 of the implementation year
5. Metric definition => Definition of the NFT basic characteristics, modelation as how to issue by area of micro-forest, or by biodiversity metric to be created in the Open Source Forest Module and List of useful information to be minted with the NFT;
6. Myrtus communis => to be delivered in the third 1/4 of the implementation year
7. Early adopter => Creation of the first collection for early adopters and supporters. This collection will also serve as a fund raising stage for business partners and companies that want to offset their carbon emissions.
8. Olea europaea => to be delivered in the fourth 1/4 of the implementation year
9. Forest sharing => First NFT distribution of a physical site where the Open Source Micro-Forest is implemented.
10. Stages after this fund:
11. Pinus pinaster => second year
12. Adaptability of the marketplace to allow other external agents who want to implement their own micro-forests according to our open source module to be able to use forest sharing as a means of economic sustainability.

Please find the detailed steps and milestones for the implementation of the whole plan, including the Open Source Forest, Mycell Micro-Forest NFT and Mycelium Foundation in the following link.

Full project Steps, Milestones and Outputs

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] Please describe the deliverables, outputs and intended outcomes of each milestone.

Full extensive description of the milestones and outputs is shown on the link on the bottom of this section.

But here's a brief description of the milestones and activities for this project. Since our focus is to restore forest, our milestones are named over trees and bushes native to Europe:

1. Lavandula pedunculate => to be delivered in the first 1/4 of the implementation year
2. Branding and design => The key activities are related to branding and design of website, logo and branding package;
3. Legal => list of legal issues to adress.
4. Rosmarinus officinalis => to be delivered in the second 1/4 of the implementation year
5. Metric definition => Definition of the NFT basic characteristics, modelation as how to issue by area of micro-forest, or by biodiversity metric to be created in the Open Source Forest Module and List of useful information to be minted with the NFT;
6. Myrtus communis => to be delivered in the third 1/4 of the implementation year
7. Early adopter => Creation of the first collection for early adopters and supporters. This collection will also serve as a fund raising stage for business partners and companies that want to offset their carbon emissions.
8. Olea europaea => to be delivered in the fourth 1/4 of the implementation year
9. Forest sharing => First NFT distribution of a physical site where the Open Source Micro-Forest is implemented.
10. Stages after this fund:
11. Pinus pinaster => second year
12. Adaptability of the marketplace to allow other external agents who want to implement their own micro-forests according to our open source module to be able to use forest sharing as a means of economic sustainability.

Please find the detailed steps and milestones for the implementation of the whole plan, including the Open Source Forest, Mycell Micro-Forest NFT and Mycelium Foundation in the following link.

Full project Steps, Milestones and Outputs

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

The costs breakdown was calculated with a thorough research about the time involved for each stage and the general rates for these services in the industry.

[IMPORTANT NOTE] The Applicant agreed to Fund10 rules and also that data in the Submission Form and other data provided by the project team during the course of the project will be publicly available.

I Accept