The Danish Planetary Responsibility Foundation (PRF) has made a strategic investment in the British company Ponterra Ltd. With this investment, PRF becomes a shareholder of an ambitious company aiming to implement 35 extensive nature restoration projects globally over the next ten years.

With 70% of the world's biodiversity lost since the 1970s, the planet faces serious environmental challenges. Ponterra’s projects transform unproductive agricultural lands into high biodiversity nature restoration sites through the sale of carbon and biodiversity credits, offering farmers an economically attractive solution for their less profitable lands.

 "Our investment in Ponterra supports a business model that not only promotes one of PRF's fundamental purposes – nature restoration but also ensures socio-economic growth in the affected areas," states Jens Böhme, CEO of PRF.

"Our goal with the investment in Ponterra is not only to achieve a commercial return but also to realize genuine nature restoration, which is central to the foundation’s mission," points out Jens Böhme.

"While the biodiversity crisis may not always receive the same attention as the climate crisis, it is no less urgent. Nature is not only valuable in itself; our economies deeply depend on its resources. It is crucial that we accelerate such engagements both in business and among authorities."

"Ponterra’s work in promoting investments in nature and CO2 absorption through biodiversity-rich climate credits offers a concrete and real solution to the pressing climate and biodiversity challenges we face. It is important for us in the foundation that these are tangible, real actions we are investing in,” states Jens Böhme, CEO of PRF.

“Ponterra’s mission to restore biodiversity and uplift local communities by designing and operating high-integrity nature projects comes to life today. We are thrilled to be working with some of the most respected buyers of nature-based carbon credits in the market to reach the scale needed to meaningfully impact the twin biodiversity and climate crises,” said Celia Francis, CEO of Ponterra Ltd. ‘Ponterra and PRF are fully mission aligned and we are thrilled to have had PRF as an early investor.’

As pioneers in developing high quality nature-based climate projects, Ponterra effectively binds CO2, restores biodiversity, and strengthens local communities. In Panama, Ponterra has initiated the flagship project, ARC, on 10,000 hectares, where over 75 local tree species will be planted to promote biodiversity and develop a scalable model for nature restoration. This model forms the basis for the company's further global expansion. 

Ponterra is also establishing a 'Living Lab,' a global research center in collaboration with local and visiting researchers and scientists from renowned institutions such as ETH Zurich, Crowther Lab, and the Smithsonian Research Institute. Some of the researchers involved are supported by a grant from Google and will focus on advanced biodiversity monitoring.

In 2024, Ponterra’s nursery will expand to the capacity to house up to a million saplings, which will accelerate the planting to an expected six million trees over the next few years.

Ponterra's business model is based on long-term leasing of agricultural land, enabling both nature restoration and a sustained revenue source for farmers through the sale of high-quality climate credits.

Last week, Ponterra's pilot project ARC secured full financing from a consortium of some of the world's leading nature project investors.

Microsoft, Rubicon Carbon, and Carbon Streaming have all entered agreements that fully fund the ARC project. The three investors have purchased a percentage of the future carbon credits from the project in exchange for financing the upfront costs to establish the 10,000-hectare forest, which will sequester 3.24 million tons of CO2. In parallel, Microsoft has agreed to an additional carbon credits agreement through 2040. Microsoft alone bought 1.6m carbon credits from the project.

About PRF

Founded in 2022 by Andreea Kaiser and Ludvig Find, owners of the Danish urban and property development company ALFA Development, www.alfadev.dk . PRF's purpose is to help restore and protect the planet’s nature and biodiversity and promote sustainable development from an international perspective in the built environment.

About Ponterra

Ponterra is a leading developer and operator of the world’s highest quality carbon and biodiversity projects. By focusing on restoring nature on degraded agricultural lands, Ponterra aims to reverse climate change, bring back biodiversity, and uplift rural communities. Their vertically integrated model enables end-to-end management of the entire restoration process and establishes a precedent for how to scale nature-based solutions to create ecological and human prosperity. Founded in 2023 in London by experienced nature-based solutions and climate tech operators, Ponterra now has a diverse team of professionals across the UK, US, and Latin America. For more information, visit www.ponterra.eco .

More info

Ponterra | Unlocking investments in Nature

Financial Times: Making sense of the ‘green grabbing’ debate

Latest news: Microsoft backs tree-planting carbon removal scheme in Panama | Reuters

Ponterra’s ARC project in Panama is one of only six projects globally under validation by the world leading standardization and certification organization Verra’s new highest quality Afforestation, Reforestation and Revegetation (ARR) methodology VM0047.  Also it’s a pilot project for Verra’s new SD VISta Nature Framework, a program designed to pioneer the issuance of biodiversity credits. Verra is the world’s leading standard for Carbon Credit certification. The purpose of SD VISTa certification is to support large-scale financing of high-quality nature restoration projects and promote a new generation of nature credits.