Glass frog climbing a branch at night in primary forest
THE ALLIANCE

Five working groups.
One alliance.

A market for natural assets cannot be built from one discipline.
Each group advances a distinct system, and each is accountable to the others.

How the groups work

Convene,
design,
prototype,
hand it to the market.

Scientists, protectors, financiers, lawyers and policymakers sit in one design process rather than five separate conversations. Every instrument is defined, prototyped in real forests with real stewards, then released as an open protocol.

Protectors keep their data and their decisions throughout. Direct access to finance is the design constraint, not an aspiration.

Working group 01

Digital Infrastructure

Protocol design, the global forest map, asset mechanics, exchange and royalty rails, and low-bandwidth tools built for remote communities.

In scope
Protocol architecture and smart contract logic
A map-based global registry of protected forest
Wallets, payment rails and royalty flows to protectors
Field tools that work on a phone with no signal
Blockchain Marketplace Exchange Wallets Dashboards WhatsApp UX
Working group 02

Ecological & Traditional Scientific Integrity

Verification science, digital MRV, forest health scoring, and Traditional Ecological Knowledge held as an intelligence layer rather than a consultation.

In scope
What a healthy primary forest is, and how it is scored
Community-led digital monitoring, reporting and verification
Biodiversity measurement that stands up to an auditor
Data sovereignty terms and eligibility criteria
MRV design Biodiversity Data sovereignty Eligibility criteria Community governance
Working group 03

Asset Class & Market Strategy

Demand activation, buyer and brand partnerships, pricing, integration with existing credit markets, and the path from pilot to maturity.

In scope
Who buys a natural asset, and on what terms
Pricing, impact bonds and investor structures
Raising demand for the biodiversity credits already in market
Participation routes for individuals, not just institutions
Impact bonds Investor circles Stacked credits NDC demand Donor circles
Working group 04

Governance & Legal Architecture

Protocol rules, treasury design, the protector and science committees, land tenure, and the path to distributed governance.

In scope
Legal entity, liabilities framework and treasury
The Forest Protector Committee and the Science Committee
Land tenure and rights verification
Handing control of the protocol to its protectors
BioFIA governance Forest Protector Committee Science Committee Land tenure
Working group 05

Policy & Institutional Alignment

Standards accreditation, regulatory engagement, NDC and DFI pathways, and the institutional-grade positioning the market requires.

In scope
Accreditation with existing standards bodies
Country NDC integration and carbon market regulation
DFI and multilateral engagement
Due diligence standards institutions can underwrite
NDC integration Carbon markets DFI engagement Due diligence
Collared araçari perched on a mossy branch
The alliance

We are already building this.

Forest protectors, scientists, technologists, lawyers, funders and policy institutions designing one system together.

Steering committee

DO
David Ontaneda
Founder · Systems Design
RJ
Rebeca Justicia, PhD
Founder · Conservation Science
WD
Wetherbee Dorshow, PhD
Geospatial & Monitoring Science
GH
Gunthar Hartwig
Technology & Operations
LB
Laurie Benson
Governance

Advisors

Patrick Field
Ethics & Integrity
Jennifer Lasimbang
Direct Access Mechanism
Harold Hallstein
Finance
Catherine Yrisarri
Communications
Leo Cerda
Governance
and others across policy, market strategy and institutional alignment

Ancestral futures

The communities who have protected these forests for generations are not stakeholders to consult. They are the intelligence layer of the system, carrying ancestral ways of knowing that have sustained these ecosystems across centuries and that guide where we go next.

Indigenous wisdom is not a legacy to preserve. It is a living design principle for the world we are building.

Thought partners

Fundación Maquipucuna
Hakhu Foundation
Earth Analytic
Sankala Group
Nature Investment Hub
Esri
PlanetaryX

Funding partners

Rainforest Trust
Bezos Earth Fund
Puente Institute
Fundación Maquipucuna

Bring your expertise into a working group, or add your organisation to the alliance.

Groups meet continuously and publish what they design. If you work in verification science, market structure, law, policy or protocol engineering, there is a seat.

BioFIA
The protocol The alliance Join standingforests.org
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · BIOFIA 2026