In many parts of the world ecosystems are degraded and under extreme pressure from rural poverty, climate change, lacking security and natural resources depletion but also competing intensive agriculture, mining and urbanization land uses. Human, animal and plant inhabitants of planet Earth suffer because of this.
ESMERALDA, which is an acronym for
Earth
Sustainability Monitoring for Ecosystem
Restoration using sAteLlites to foster Development for humAnkind,
is an effort by five private companies from France and Germany with different expertise to leverage financial, agroecology and space technology know-how to conceptualize and kick-start ecosystem restoration large scale investment projects based on sustainable business models for the local communities and economic partners of the areas to be restored.
For an impression of what a fully designed project
with business plan looks like, visit:
The ESMERALDA approach rests on four pillars:
of areas and ecosystems to restore, based on land and landscape degradation trends and deep understanding of degradation drivers, involving all relevant stakeholders at local, regional and global levels, moderating the definition of a viable project concept and clear implementation strategies.
socio-economic needs and opportunities with market and investment funding demands, devising a sustainable and secured business plan and contracts for all stakeholders involved.
transparency of the project preparation and traceability of project activities as well as social, environmental and economic impacts during and beyond the project implementation timeline using high performance satellite data and geographical information systems (GIS).
of knowledge/best practices/success stories and stimulating partnerships between green investors, economic operators and communities living in areas to be restored.