SDG Series: Life on Land
By: Chris Malloy
Tags: Impact Investing, Sustainability, Sdgs, Impacttech, Life On Land

Note: This post is by Zahra Biabani.

So far, human activity has resulted in the degradation of two billion hectares of land, meaning that soil quality and land productivity have diminished across much of the world. This loss of land quality directly affects the livelihoods and wellbeing of more than 3.2 billion people, and indirectly us all. It also threatens millions of non-human species.

In order to protect our planet and its many life forms, companies and other organizations have turned to innovative, tech-driven solutions for pressing problems like species endangerment, land degradation, forest clearing, and desertification. SDG 15 outlines numerous threats to terrestrial land and ecosystem — and offers many promising solutions.

Challenges

Challenge: Plant and Species Extinction

The world is so beautiful in part because of the vast diversity of species here on land. Unfortunately, this diversity might not last forever. About 68% of the 12,914 plant species evaluated by the International Union for Conservation of Nature are threatened with extinction. Of the 9,526 invertebrate species evaluated, some 30% were deemed at risk for extinction.

Both plant and animal species extinction is often a direct cause of loss of biodiversity. A domino effect can follow because the extinction of one species in a complex ecosystem inevitably leads to the extinction of other species in that ecosystem. Reduced biodiversity caused by extinction can have far-reaching consequences for even humans, including the spread of disease and interruption to food systems.

Challenge: Deforestation

Trees are the lungs of our earth, making them an incredibly important resource to protect. Yet an estimated 18 million acres (7.3 million hectares) of forest, an area about the size of Panama, are lost each year. This forest loss is harmful to both forest-dwelling species and city-dwellers alike.

Locally, forest loss means habitat loss for many animals. Globally, deforestation results in greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. The World Wildlife Foundation estimates that 15 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions come from deforestation. Trees are also important carbon sinks; they are invaluable for long-term carbon storage in the ground and should be protected as a tool for carbon capture.

Challenge: Desertification

Across the globe, lush green land is turning dry and brown. The persistent degradation of drylands has led to the desertification of 3.6 billion hectares. Desertification is the degradation of drylands in which fertile areas become arid, decreasing soil health and biological productivity. Currently, 2.6 billion people depend directly on agriculture for their main income. Some 52% of land used for agriculture is moderately or severely affected by soil degradation, threatening the livelihoods of these 2.6 billion people.

Emerging Solutions

Solution: Fighting Poaching and Animal Endangerment

Keeping track of endangered and extinct species is challenging. The Newton Project is using NewChain, its proprietary blockchain, to track the location and behaviors of endangered animals through a chip-monitoring system. NewChain’s operators tag the leaders of endangered species groups. These tags relay data back to the blockchain. Additionally, NewChain is using drones to collect data on the location and patterns of poachers. Governments and other organizations can then use this data to better gauge the threat of poaching and illegal trafficking.

Solution: Planting Trees and Paying Wages

Deforestation, the destruction and removal of trees, has long been a pernicious threat. There are two main ways governments and organizations address deforestation: by establishing laws that regulate the practice and by planting trees for reforestation. The latter has been popular among proactive companies with an environmental or social responsibility focus.

One obstacle to reforestation is a general lack of transparency about where trees are being planted and who is planting them. Regen Network and the Rainforest Foundation have joined forces to launch a pilot blockchain project that brings transparency to reforestation and uses smart contracts to provide the Indigenous Ticuna community (of Buen Jardin de Callarú, Peru) financial support for their tree planting. The Ticuna have pledged to conserve 1,000 hectares of Amazon rainforest through the establishment of a deforestation monitoring system, along with their proactive reforestation efforts.

Solution: Drought Management

Drought is a leading cause of desertification. A Spanish research collective called Cetaqua is currently using Microsoft Azure’s Blockchain to monitor critical water-related information like relevant meteorological data, reservoir and groundwater levels, river flows, and agricultural production in southern Spain. Cetaqua uses this information to create predictive modeling for water demand and usage, which can then be used to better inform water management decisions come drought seasons.

Conclusion

Life on land is threatened by current human activity. In order to reverse the damage done and in order to prevent bleak projections from becoming bleak realities, we must empower ourselves with the data to make necessary changes. Blockchain-based projects can help us marshal and put necessary data into positive action. For more on blockchain’s many possibilities, learn how Topl has been changing the world.