ReWorld Aims to Build World’s First Community-Funded Tropical Forest
The project, which was endorsed by Dr. Jane Goodall, promises to deliver 100% of funds raised to supporting conservation, reforestation, and biodiversity.
ReWorld — a new nonprofit dedicated to biodiversity — is in the midst of its inaugural project to purchase, reforest and protect more than 950 acres of for-sale cattle ranch land in northern Colombia. The land would otherwise be sold on the open market, and most likely to developers.
Overall, the project will build the world’s first community-funded tropical forest, create the highest-quality carbon credits, funnel 100% of revenue to conservation, and create jobs in underserved areas.
ReWorld started with three people on a mission — venture capitalist Chris Vargas, computer engineer Prudhvi Dharmana, and sustainability expert Christie Burley. The idea was simple: Allow people to go online, pick a section of a forest, and purchase it for conservation.
Many service providers help local non-profits protect the environment through carbon credit funding, and the founders hoped to work with one of them. However after months of research, they realized that a huge amount of the revenue — sometimes up to 70 percent — went to the service provider, rather than the non-profits that were doing the hard work of reforestation.
“We were baffled that so many dollars went to middle-men and not the actual conservation efforts. We knew we had to build something better,” said Vargas.
So ReWorld created a solution: Help raise funding for conservation and climate NGOs, and ensure that 100% of the revenue raised goes to the NGO.
And with that, ReWorld was born. For their inaugural project, ReWorld is working with Proyecto Tití — a longtime, well established NGO that uses rigorous science-based reforestation methods to ensure the maximum survival and longevity of tropical dry forests. The organization is led by renowned National Geographic Explorer and Conservationist Rosamira Guillen. Crucially, the founders guarantee that the project produces high-quality carbon credits and multiple environmental and social co-benefits.
For context, companies use carbon credits to offset their emissions — for example, by investing in forests or renewable energy. So while they produce emissions, they’re also taking steps to reduce carbon in the atmosphere. However, these well-intentioned efforts become meaningless if they purchase low-quality carbon credits.
“Unfortunately, many carbon credits on the market are ineffective or their results vastly overstated. They often do not meaningfully, measurably help protect the planet,” said Vargas. “ReWorld’s carbon credits are the highest quality because they include reforestation, no harm to indigenous communities, long-term removal of carbon, protection of critically endangered species, provision of sustainable income for local communities and creation of a new, rich biodiversity region.”
ReWorld’s website provides concrete, science-based metrics on the number of acres preserved, tons of carbon removed from the atmosphere, trees planted, local jobs created, and more. Dr. Jane Goodall supports the project.
ReWorld is raising a total $1.2M for Proyecto Tití to purchase new, abandoned farmland which it will reforest, preserve and protect forever. After completing this, ReWorld plans to expand their efforts to support other conservation and climate NGOs around the world.
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ReWorld exists to protect and conserve our planet’s biodiversity. We do this by empowering the world’s best climate and conservation organizations to accomplish their mission at unprecedented speed and scale. We believe that conservation of biodiversity is essential to the healthy functioning of our planet’s ecosystems and to the survival of the human species.
