Asset Balance Sheets

Asset balance sheets log the stocks of assets and their values in the national accounts. Whereas flows of economic production--goods and services--have been used as primary indicators of the "health" of an economy, these measures do not take into account depreciation or degradation of the asset base form which these flows stem. Changes in the asset balance sheet would reflect, for example, the reduction in value of depleted fisheries stocks. 

An asset balance sheet is useful for natural capital accounting and assessing the blue economy requires periodic assessments of asset stocks that are systematically collected and comparable. This would mean regular assessments of fishery stocks, undersea ocean and mineral deposits, and port infrastructure to name a few. Monetary accounts require prices for non-market natural capital assets. 

  1. While monetary accounts are the ideal, physical accounts (e.g. kg spawning stock biomass) can be useful where market prices do not exist. 
  2. Tracking changes in the asset balance sheet are more important than a comprehensive asset balance sheet compiled as a one-off exercise. These data must be collected with regularity to be useful for tracking the sustainability of the blue economy.
Plastic Credit

Plastic credit allows a company to neutralize its plastic production and concurrently connects its brands and products with the social and environmental impact embedded within the process of producing the credits. Plastic credits are based on the weight of the plastic that a company produces. The money spent on the plastic credits will then go toward environmental projects that will eliminate an equal amount of orphan plastics as a company produces. If a company purchases plastic credits equal to the amount of plastic that they produce, then they are considered plastic neutral. Ideally, we would be working toward eliminating orphan plastics entirely, while plastic credits only serve to assist in managing the disposal of orphan plastics. However, they are a positive short-term remedy while we, as a world community, determine a more sustainable solution.

 

 

Corporate collaborators. Their support enables TONTOTON to develop and implement more projects continuing the chain of positive environmental and social impact.

 

Plastic Credit Framework. It is imperative to define to which framework the company will operate upon the production of plastic credits. TONTOTON chose to remove ocean-bound orphan plastic waste from the environment as we see the highest environmental and social impact in it.

It is important to work with companies who take sustainability seriously and not just jumping into the bandwagon of this conversation. Not because they can neutralize the plastic elements in their supply chain that they cannot immediately remove, they have the excuse to just produce more without any plastic recycling or reduction plan in place. These solutions must go hand-in-hand in order to achieve the best impact that our planet deserves.

Certified Solution

Our activities are audited by a 3rd Party Control Body as part of the Ocean Bound Plastic Neutrality Standard. Credibility is key. Corporations participating in the TONTOTON plastic neutralizing program receive certificates to verify the quantity of waste collected, transported, received, and converted into AFRM, allowing quantifiable and reliable reporting to all stakeholders of your business. Neutralization Certificates are kept in a Public Registry to ensure no double counting.

  • Globally-recognized protocol on ocean-bound neutrality. This governs the definition of ocean-bound plastic and all activities surrounding the production of the plastic credits.
  • Third-party auditor/control body. They are the checks and balance that ensures all procedures in the production of plastic credits are compliant to the protocol. Only then the certified credits are recorded to the public registry to avoid double selling.

In this industry, there is always tendency of greenwashing as corporations are cramming to be labeled “eco-friendly” or “sustainable” in order to remain relevant and competitive among consumers with growing demands for sustainability, not to mention to comply and respond to the global pressure on sustainability.

 

Thus, TONTOTON deems that an independent certificate audited by a globally-acclaimed third-party control body is a must to establish accountability. This helps us to be always on our toes in terms of ensuring all our activities are proper and aligned with the protocol.

 

TONTOTON also urges our business clients to sign a sustainability commitment, with the understanding that plastic credit is only a part of its overall action plan towards reducing or removing plastic in their bsupply chain.

Flexible perovskite solar pannels in wildlife conservation

Collaboration with development companies, IT, engineers may create an innovative approach in conservation. High efficient telemetry perovskite solar panels provide hundreds of thousands of times more energy than is needed for fixing GPS position and other data like temperature, humidity, etc., and transmitting it to the cloud. Because of the high efficiency of perovskite power cells of solar panels devices telemetry collar can work with low light density, dust, and severe condition efficiently enough to produce the right amount of energy. In this case, accumulator batteries size decreased up to 90%, and the is no reason to replace them every 3-5 years, which decrease the negative impact of accumulator batterie on the environment 

Multidiscipline cooperation is the key. When IT, engineers, conservationists, managers, foresters, veterinarians, and hunters working together for the common innovative goal. Success definitely in the cooperation of highly motivated people.

The combination of the right people at the right place. It was really challenging during COVID-19 times because of borders closure between the engineering and implementation team. All windows of opportunities were use and also creativity. 

Citizen project with fund management

This strategy consisted of applying for a call for proposals called: "Fund to Support Sonora Projects for the Environment", which made it possible to implement a soil and vegetation cover restoration program for the Parque Central or Parque Johnson Natural Protected Area.

Through the on-site identification of areas of greatest impact, this fund was managed for the development and placement of hydrological infrastructure such as gabions and cisterns.

We had the support of a group of engineers: HEMEK Engineering, as well as the participation of the Sonora Silvestre Collective for training and advice on the installation of the gabions and the support of groups of citizen volunteers for both the preparation and subsequent maintenance activities of the gabions.

For the achievement of this strategy, there was ample support and donations in time and material from various organizations:

CEDES - Economic Resources

Hemek Ingeniería S.A. de C.V. - Engineering and execution of the project.

TE Conectividad - Donation of a 5,000-liter cistern.

Ayuntamiento de Hermosillo - Donation of 42m3 of stone for gabion filling.

Alejandro Robles Topography - Topography works.

The observable results in terms of facilitating the establishment of vegetation cover, mitigation of heat islands are in the process of development since they are observable results in the longer term, however, it was observed after the first rains, a stabilization of the terrain upstream due to the action of the gabions allowing to reduce the speed of water, which was reflected in the reduction of sediment in the streets of the colony that connect to the ANP.

It is important that for the management of funds for the implementation of projects or programs, the cost involved should be carefully calculated, since in our case the cost was higher due to the use of machinery, since the sandy soil of the access to the area does not allow the entry of dump trucks to unload the stone in the proximity of each gabion.

Improve the agreements with the actors involved since the delivery times of governmental institutions were not always as desired in order to meet the goals in the stipulated times.

Institutional and CSO partnerships

The strategy based on alliances allows connecting visions that lead to the development of actions oriented to a common objective, in this case, the restoration and conservation of the Central Park Natural Area and its zones of influence.

The activities that have made it possible to build this community network with actors from institutions and other CSOs have included on-site events related to their own projects, as well as training with expert advisors on restoration issues and practices outside the impact zone, but which make it possible to concretize and strengthen the technical learning necessary to continue with the project.

One of the most significant actions has been to collaborate with different social actors in the preparation of the Management Plan for the Natural Protected Area, which is a necessary and useful resource for conservation objectives and a multi-stakeholder action, as well as collaborations with transboundary associations such as the Arizona Desert Museum and Borderlands Restoration Network in an effort to improve the consequences of the impacts of exotic plants and implement restoration actions.

Extend the collaboration network beyond the local area, which allows for increased opportunities to support the conservation of the area.

Extend the reach of the results so that more people, both citizens and representatives of institutions, become interested in supporting the strategies.

This strategy has made the project visible to more support networks.

It is important to have sufficient time to meet the requests of the different stakeholders involved in the partnerships.

To have a follow-up strategy for each of the partnerships and commitments undertaken.

Participatory environmental education strategies

The objective of this strategy was to strengthen participatory management activities through environmental education. Tours of the natural area were conducted in which the general public was invited, as well as children's walks, theater presentations, family walks, night walks, and citizen science workshops.

These educational activities were led by actors from different areas: biologists, theater actors, members of the association, and naturalist tutors. All this to strengthen the links between specialists in the area of conservation but also to diversify the way in which specialized knowledge is presented to the general public.

The information and themes were aimed at informing about habitat conditions in the area, informing about the ANP, informing about invasive species as well as native species and strategies of minimum impact in natural areas.

  • Interest on the part of the participants in continuing to learn about the topics covered.

  • As a result of these events, more people from the conservation field were contacted to collaborate.

  • Neighbors in the area expressed interest in collaborating and even started organized groups for similar actions.

  • Designing learning activities that include a field experience represents a very significant learning experience, especially for children.

  • Disseminating the activities fosters a sense of belonging and promotes collaboration.

  • Importance of finding ways to measure the impact of these activities as well as the results.

Business Alliances

One of the lines we have is the creation of corporate forests. What we do is to link companies to implement their corporate social responsibility strategy through us by planting a forest in the Amazon. Many companies implement it to integrate their different stakeholders (employees, customers, partners, suppliers, etc.) in their strategy, planting a tree on behalf of each of them, which has proven to be very successful.

  1. Have sufficient physical and human infrastructure capacity to implement the projects.
  2. To have the technological tools to be able to monitor and control.
  3. To have the administrative capacity to meet their requirements.
  1. The areas of the organization must be flexible to adapt to different types of demand.
  2. Identify in time which variables are sensitive to changes in order to react quickly.
Accessing the voluntary carbon market.

Access to the voluntary carbon market provides unconditional finance allowing the communities to earn revenue from the protection of their natural resources. Earned revenue results in increased ownership over the project and empowers forest communities to determine how that revenue will best be spent to improve forest protection activities and enhance community development in a way the serves the entire community. 

Carbon Tanzania is the project developer who connects the forest communities to the international voluntary carbon market by sourcing clients, organizing verification and registering the certified carbon credits on the respective environmental registries.

For carbon credits to be sold on the international voluntary carbon market they must first be verified by an international third-party certification standard. The Ntakata Mountains project is certified by VERRA’s VCS and CCBA standard.

Access to market must also be established. Carbon Tanzania has an established network within the voluntary carbon market enabling the sale of the certified carbon credits.

Clients purchasing carbon credits need to have genuine carbon reduction strategies to uphold the legitimacy of the project generating the certified carbon credits.

Most clients will also have their own certification and CSR requirements that can determine which certification standard they need their credits to be verified by.

Covid19 Protocol

Elaborate a Protocol to minimize the damages caused by COVID19 and to be able to open the Protected Area for the enjoyment of tourists and the economic exploitation by the Tourist Service Providers, based on a traffic light by levels and capacities of load and by permitted activities.

Safeguard human life and the park's ecosystems.

establish carrying capacity levels for its use and occupation

dissemination of the Protocol's traffic light system

New reality of social behavior

establishment of social parameters to be followed

mediating between the economic needs of service providers and health care

preserving jobs through new work paradigms

preservation of ecosystem health