Bloomberg

CYNK, a Nairobi-based platform set up initially to trade carbon credit futures, has partnered with a United Nations agency to explore selling biodiversity credit futures based on some of the world’s most most famed nature areas. 

The platform will work on a pilot project with US-based Regenerative Resources to forward sell the credits from a project aiming to boost biodiversity in the El Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve in Mexico, which is classified by the agency, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, as a World Heritage Site, CYNK said in a statement sent to Bloomberg.

The aim, with a sale of UNESCO-branded biodiversity credit futures expected in the first quarter of next year, will be to generate funds to pay for ecological restoration. UNESCO natural World Heritage Sites, while covering less than 1% of the world’s surface, boast a fifth of its species including more than 30,000 types of animals and 75,000 plant types.

“The target is to go to market with a pre sale to bring funding into these projects,” Nils Razmilovic, founder and chairman of CYNK, said of the plan to market the futures, which will be based on increasing the biodiversity in the zones.

The sale of biodiversity credits, which are based on measuring increased biodiversity, was backed by the UN last year when it published research together with the International Institute for Environment and Development saying the securities could be used to finance conservation. 

Still, the nascent asset class is being treated with caution by some. Critics say the securities, like carbon credits, could be used by some companies to burnish their green credentials without fundamentally changing they way they do business. 

The project at El Vizcaino, which includes a whale sanctuary, could serve as a model for similar programs at other UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The agency has named 266 natural and mixed world heritage sites globally. 

“This collaboration aims to leverage local knowledge and skills to protect biodiversity, create social impact and develop sustainable economic coexistence models within UNESCO designated sites,” CYNK said.