SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Pachama, the technology company on a mission to solve climate change by restoring nature, today announced that it has secured a critical investment from Latin America’s leading e-commerce company Mercado Libre as part of the latter’s Regenera América program to protect essential biodiversity in Latin America and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The announcement brings Mercado Libre’s total investment in the program to $23.7 million.
“Our partnership with Mercado Libre further enables Pachama to activate high fidelity, nature-based projects that have the full confidence of buyers and meet ambitious carbon dioxide removal goals,” said Dick Cameron, VP of Science at Pachama. “Our roots are in the forests of Latin America and we’re thrilled to partner with an industry leader who shares our commitment to mitigating climate change by investing in nature and biodiversity.”
Regenera América’s new projects will be implemented together with Pachama. They include:
- The Curuá project, a new project in northern Brazil where deforestation has caused significant environmental damage, to conserve 8,200 hectares of Amazon forests, avoiding potential emissions equivalent to more than 3,000,000 tons of carbon dioxide in 30 years.
- The Novas Florestas project will focus on the reforestation of 155 hectares by planting almost 300,000 native trees near São Paulo, an area that houses important plant and animal diversity, in addition to providing drinking water to millions of people.
- The Corredor Campeche project, a conservation effort undertaken in the Mayan Selva, Central America’s largest contiguous forest, that will restore 570 hectares of tropical forest.
- Expansion of the Café Apuí initiative to support an additional 10 hectares and the planting of 20,000 native trees, which contributes to the development of responsible agriculture (coffee production) and alternative income for local producer families.
- Expansion of Águas do Rio, a reforestation project based in Rio de Janeiro state that will restore 100 additional hectares in addition to the 70 hectares of restoration already underway.
- Expansion of Corredores Pau Brasil, a reforestation project in Bahía state that aims to build an ecological corridor between two national parks.
Latin America is home to 40% of the world’s biodiversity and many of the planet’s most important biomes. With this new round of investment, Regenera América will have begun the conservation and restoration of more than 15,000 hectares of native forest, equivalent to more than 14 million trees, which will contribute with an estimated capture of more than 1.1 million tons of CO2e in 30 years and will help avoid 3 million tons of CO2e.
About Pachama
Pachama is a technology company on a mission to restore nature to solve climate change. Harnessing the latest advancements in satellite imagery, remote sensing and machine learning, Pachama measures the carbon dioxide equivalent stored in our forests with unprecedented precision and monitors forest growth over time. Through the Pachama platform, responsible companies can confidently invest in high-quality forest conservation projects verified by Pachama’s rigorous evaluation process.
