SankalpTaru Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting sustainable living and biodiversity conservation, announced today that it is partnering with NEAR Foundation, the non-profit that supports the on-going growth and development of the NEAR Protocol, a high-performance, low cost  and super scalable carbon-neutral blockchain, and Airchains to transform the tree plantation ecosystem with blockchain technology. By using NEAR Protocol along with Airchains‘ cutting-edge web3 middleware SaaS solution,  SankalpTaru Foundation is making tree plantations more transparent, traceable, and accountable.

Preserving the environment has emerged as one of the key goals globally as climate change, adverse environmental conditions, pollution, greenhouse emissions, and more are impacting planet earth every day. Around 10 million hectares of forest is cut down every year to provide land for housing and urban development. Governments worldwide are making conscientious efforts to promote environment conservation, eco-friendly measures, reduce carbon footprint, and employ carbon offsetting initiatives such as tree plantation, reforestation, renewable energy usage, recycling, etc. To accomplish these sustainability goals, funds are released frequently by governments to ensure environmental conservation awareness and preservation, yet corrupt practices trickle through that inhibit the progress immensely. Practices such as illegal logging, illegal trade, poaching, misuse of public funds, fraudulent reports, and the like, are still existent and rampant in the sector.

SankalpTaru Foundation, one of India’s leading IT enabled NGOs, has recognized the potential of blockchain to enhance transparency, traceability, and accountability in tree plantation operations. NEAR Protocol will allow SankalpTaru Foundation to create tamper-proof digital records of each tree planted, including its species, location, and growth status. This will enable the foundation to monitor the progress of its tree plantation initiatives in real-time, ensure compliance with environmental regulations, and track the impact of its efforts on biodiversity and carbon sequestration.

Airchains’ web3 middleware SaaS, on the other hand, will enable SankalpTaru Foundation to automate the payment and delivery of goods and services to its stakeholders, such as seed suppliers, nurseries, and farmers. Airchains’ middleware will integrate with NEAR Foundation’s blockchain to ensure secure and transparent transactions, reducing the risk of fraud and corruption. Donors can track their contributions and follow the progress of each planted tree through geolocation and geofencing. This pioneering move will not only provide real-time data for each tree but also enable better monitoring of plantation density in specific areas, fostering a sustainable and greener future.

“SankalpTaru was started with a group of nature enthusiasts dedicated to becoming the medium between technology and green environment. With over 5 million trees planted, recorded, and tracked, having covered 26 states and UTs in India, we are still on our journey to making the planet greener. By incorporating blockchain technology into our ecosystem, we wanted to enable trust, transparency, and accountability for our donors and provide an exclusive unique experience to them. Through this immutable technology, the increased trust in our process and accountability will further our cause for greenery. Along with that, donors can also track various stages of the tree plantation process and track their contributions.”  Apurva Bhandari, Founder, SankalpTaru

“Partnering with SankalpTaru Foundation in their endeavor to ensure a greener planet and promote a more sustainable and equitable world by aiding them with our cutting-edge blockchain infrastructure has been an exciting experience. Through flexible and seamless integration, we have created a trustworthy environment for the donors which is tamper-proof and fully transparent and ultimately we hope this would increase the conversation around how blockchain technology could be incorporated into the environment sector to ensure secure tracking, recording, and documentation, and that this technology still has considerable untapped potential.” Ankur Rakhi Sinha, Co-founder and CEO, Airchains

The donations made to the foundation are used for different activities undertaken to sustain the environmental efforts and support local farmers. They also have Gramyumm, an initiative organized by them to uplift rural communities through e-commerce and hosting their produce for sale on the foundation’s website.

“NEAR Foundation has been at the forefront of supporting Indian innovations and contributing to a better future. Our scalable and developer-friendly blockchain platform will enable SankalpTaru Foundation to create innovative solutions that drive positive social and environmental impact. With this integration with SankalpTaru and Airchains, which is a novel sustainable technology initiative, we are expanding our scope to include new industries that have not yet utilized blockchain to the best of its offerings and want to nurture that growth as the technology continues penetrating more sectors.” Arpit Sharma, Managing Director, India, SE Asia, and Middle East for the NEAR Foundation.