Blockchain will track 50 million pongamia trees via Investancia, EcoMatcher partnership

Pongamia trees (Photo: Investancia)

Leading agro-research company Investancia has teamed up with EcoMatcher to track a large-scale reforestation project using EcoMatcher’s blockchain-enabled digital tree-planting platform.

Over the next 10 years, 50 million trees will each receive a unique QR code in Investancia’s tree nursery. Once the trees are planted, each QR code is scanned with EcoMatcher’s TreeCorder app to register the tree’s GPS location and planting date. All data will be saved on EcoMatcher blockchain and will produce a detailed, large-scale visualization of the land Investancia has reforested. Moreover, Investancia will be able to collect data points including amount of carbon dioxide the trees sequester as well as oilseed yields. The partnership ensures full transparency of the entire supply chain and life cycle of the pongamia trees, which will be planted in the Paraguayan Chaco—South America’s second largest forest.

“The Paraguayan Chaco is one of the most rapidly deforested areas in the world,” said Marcel van Heesewijk, founder and CEO of Investancia. “To combat this threat, Investancia is using cutting-edge technology and resources. We are thrilled to partner with EcoMatcher to strengthen our reforestation program and ensure this valuable ecosystem is preserved and protected.”

Through the blockchain technology, Investancia will track the performance of its reforestation projects across 125,000 hectares of degraded cattle land. In 2021 alone, Investancia will reforest more than 2,000 hectares of land in the Paraguayan Chaco.

“The partnership with Investancia is our first licensing program of its kind, mapping large-scale reforestation projects and has resulted in some world-first features, like linking trees’ QR codes to location data,” said Bas Fransen, founder and CEO of EcoMatcher. “Investancia is a fantastic partner to work with.”

The tropical dry forest of the Chaco is home to some of the richest and most biodiverse ecology in the world. It is home to endemic and endangered animal species and indigenous communities that heavily rely on the forest for their existence.

Investancia has worked on world-leading research with the pongamia tree, which is used in its reforestation programs. Native to India and Australia, the trees are adaptive, allowing them to grow on degraded land, flood and drought resilient, yet are noninvasive. The trees also produce pods containing oilseeds that are high in protein and vegetable oil.

In February, Investancia signed a 30-year offtake deal with ECB Group that will see 300,000 metric tons of “reforestation oil” from pongamia oil produced annually by 2030. The pongamia oil will be refined by ECB Group at its new 800,000-ton, state-of-the-art Omega Green refinery located in Villeta, Paraguay, near Asuncion. The new plant will produce renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).