Alleged areas of a company that sells NFTs in the Amazon have deforestation

There is deforestation close to the guan-stalo and the spider monkey of the Nemus company. These are two of the company’s NFTs (non-fungible tokens) cards that promise, from the technology that employs blockchain, to help keep the Amazon standing.

The idea is as follows: the company creates NFTs (which, in this case, are “stickers” with species of Amazonian fauna or flora) and associates them with different geographic coordinates in the Amazon, in the municipality of Pauini, in the south of Amazonas.

A part of the money from the NFTs sold would be used to buy the corresponding portions of land in the Amazon and another part will, according to the company, go towards protection and social and economic justice in the area in question. Every person who buys an NFT from the company is called a guardian.

Last Friday night (29), the Sheet contacted Nemus, but so far, the company has not responded.

So far, on its website, Nemus, active since August 2021 and with a share capital of R$500, points out four large pieces of land (what the company calls “drops”), close to the Purus River. Within these points are smaller lots that represent the actual NTFs.

For now, only one of the “drops”, with more than 10,000 NFTs, has digital chips available for purchase. According to the company itself, the purchase of an NFT does not mean that the buyer actually owns the land — it is, therefore, a kind of virtual representation of the real territory.

Despite the idea of ​​protecting the region, in this first large area with available NFTs, there are already recent deforestations. These points, deforested in 2019, according to data from MapBiomas Alerta, are located in the vicinity of the real Seruini river and of NFTs already acquired, such as the digital jacu-stalo-de-bima-verde and macaque-spider, mentioned at the beginning of this report. .

There are also several other deforestation points in the region that include the lands designated by Nemus for the application of NFTs. The biggest and most recent of them is in the second “drop”, that is, in the next wave of NFTs promised by the company. More than 400 hectares, close to the Purus River, were felled in 2021, according to MapBiomas Alerta again. The situation was observed and published on social networks by Tasso Azevedo, coordinator of Mapbiomas.

Still close to the Purus River, another 200 hectares of forest were deforested from 2019 to 2022, as shown by the MapBiomas platform.

These areas with higher deforestation are not included in the NFTs map that Nemus presents on its website. This, according to Azevedo, shows that the company is using old satellite images.

“The region under the areas they are selling already has deforested areas”, points out the researcher, who says that more information is needed on how the funds collected will actually be used.

According to Azevedo, there are numerous projects that offer a kind of “ownership”/indirect responsibility over an area and promise the conservation of that piece of land. That is, it is not a new idea, except for the part of the NFT, which, in fact, can be something interesting to apply in this context, says the coordinator of MapBiomas.

But the lack of more concrete information about the Nemus project raises a warning, according to Azevedo.

“It is a good idea to raise funds to conserve the area, but it could die because of these carelessness. [poucas informações de destino de recursos, imagens antigas etc]. On the one hand, it is an innovative way of raising funds, but, on the other hand, what are we guaranteeing?”, asks Azevedo.

Nemus, on its website, says it wants to invest in reforestation, commercial exploitation of Amazonian species and forest management with local communities.

The company also says that “at its bases, it aims to implement the most advanced monitoring system possible”, with satellite images and “advanced drone images to provide information on the health of the forests that are being protected”.

There are also promises to “empower local law enforcement authorities” and “provide (on a massive scale) the necessary requirements for projects to implement long-term studies and bring their research to market”. According to the company, “partnerships are being established with several local and international research organizations, as well as with NGOs”.

“Through these partnerships, Nemus will provide the necessary infrastructure, logistics and funding, as well as research facilities and/or land for studies of economic or environmental sustainability (and feasibility) of the research”, says the company’s website, which does not cites names of partner entities.

Nemus also says it intends to work with local indigenous communities to “help them protect their forests and, if they ask, include them in sustainable economic projects.”

The MPF (Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office) contacted the company for clarification on its operations in the region. The institution was approached by leaders of the Apurinã indigenous people, who traditionally occupy territories close to the areas that Nemus presents on its website.

According to the agency, indigenous people report that the company wants to explore Brazil nut groves in the territory. The MPF says that people who are part of the company delivered “a sign to the villages, with writings in English, and asked the indigenous people, who can barely read, to sign documents without clarifying the content or providing a copy”.

Nemus was given a period of 15 days to present documents proving ownership of land in the region and to consult with the impacted indigenous peoples.