Corruption in the forestry sector continues to undermine the rights & livelihoods of local & Indigenous communities. By institutionalising the use of ForestLink, we empower local communities beyond enforcement - the system has proven critical in tackling this corruption, enabling communities to document land rights violations & illegal activities, defend their territories & secure access to justice, whilst securing sustainable economic opportunities linked to forest resources.  

 Crucially, ForestLink supports sustainable economic activities & lays the groundwork for payment for environmental services by reinforcing community autonomy & stewardship of natural resources. Through partnerships with local organisations skilled in legal advocacy & sustainable enterprise, communities are supported to develop livelihoods aligned with forest protection. Key enabling factors include understanding current economic practices, ensuring financial support for legal actions & engaging in parallel advocacy to secure land rights.  

By actively managing and defending their lands, communities reinforce their autonomy & contribute to long-term, locally driven development. The data collected through the tool also plays a crucial role in supporting access to justice - providing evidence for legal & non-legal actions when communities face human rights abuses or environmental crimes.  

This digital tool's efficiency relies on the fact that it is accessible from remote areas & easy to use for local & Indigenous communities. 

It allows grassroots data to be gathered to feed national and global advocacy. Its adaptability also lies in the fact that it can be used to monitor a variety of issues (illegal logging - artisanal or industrial, mining, carbon market projects' impact, GBV, etc.), in a variety of contexts.   

The evidence is building that granting Indigenous peoples & other local communities' control over their territories improves forest protection, as they are directly invested in the survival of forests & want to ensure that future generations can continue to live & thrive in them. Yet a lot of development, environmental & climate-related programs are not created in collaboration with the people who will be impacted by them. Therefore, our solution arose from the challenges that grassroots organisations & Indigenous & local communities brought to our attention. Those communities are the ones living all the forests illegalities & land tenure violations. By directly tackling their challenge it ensures the solution to be genuine & efficient. Working with them directly helps us to better understand the contexts they are facing & adapt the tool in consequence.  

Contour Enviro Group further coordinate and create job opportunities for the MSMEs that have gone through the training programme so that they may practice their acquired skills. All of our MSMEs have acquired work since the inception of the programme and this has brought some sustainability on the model.

As mentioned in the previous sections, this programme is meant to achieve the following: “to develop, empower, support and professionalize Conservation MSMEs in the conservation sector in South Africa”. 

The programme has trained over 20 MSMEs and created over 400 jobs annually since 2022 based on this programme. This programme is the main building block for the Grasshopper Project Management Tool as it was realised that the MSMEs need some support and a consolidation of their project management efforts, access to basic financial tools such as quoting and invoicing. Furthermore, to manage their assets etc. 

This building block highlights the importance of aligning economic incentives with ecosystem conservation. NFTree increases the opportunity cost of deforestation by providing financial rewards for preserving forests. By connecting private-sector funding to biodiversity-rich carbon sinks, NFTree ensures that conservation becomes a competitive and sustainable land-use option. The integration of digital tools and financial mechanisms creates a model where ecological preservation supports both environmental and economic resilience.

This building block focuses on creating financial incentives for smallholders and landowners to conserve and restore forests. Funds generated through NFTree token sales are deposited into a trust fund and distributed as conservation payments to local communities. This approach ensures that land stewards are financially rewarded for their efforts while maintaining ecological integrity.

This building block utilizes advanced technology to monitor, report, and verify (MRV) conservation outcomes. The MRV system integrates satellite imagery, artificial intelligence, and on-ground data to measure carbon stocks, forest productivity, and biodiversity in the Andean Chocó. This robust system provides high-resolution data to validate the ecological impact of conservation efforts, ensuring transparency and attracting high-integrity climate financing.

This building block introduces the tokenization of conservation efforts using blockchain technology. NFTree tokenizes 10x10 meter plots of conserved or restored forest land, creating unique digital assets that represent carbon sequestration and biodiversity credits. These tokens are purchased by individuals and companies to offset their carbon footprints, with funds directly channeled to local conservation initiatives. The blockchain ledger ensures transparency, traceability, and accountability in transactions, making conservation efforts more attractive to investors and contributors.

This building block establishes decentralized governance structures using a DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization). It ensures transparent and equitable distribution of conservation funds to local land stewards while empowering them with decision-making authority. The DAO model integrates community members into governance, enabling scalable and bottom-up landscape management that complements top-down conservation initiatives