Everland in partnership with BNP Paribas announces $50 million capital markets initiative to launch first Indigenous-led Amazon forest conservation projects under Equitable Earth Standard

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• USA - English

Designed to mobilize billions of dollars for forest communities and conservation, this initiative aims to drive action on global goals for climate, nature and sustainable development

NEW YORK, April 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Everland is convening, with the support of BNP Paribas, a groundbreaking outcome bond partnership to finance large-scale, Indigenous and traditional community-led forest conservation projects. The initiative is also supported by world-leading international advocacy organization Global Citizen, as part of its ongoing partnership with the new forest conservation standard Equitable Earth, and was unveiled today at the Global Citizen NOW summit in New York City.

The bond initiative aims to provide $50 million in direct project financing to launch the first 20 community-led REDD+ forest conservation projects in the Amazon, certified under the Equitable Earth Standard. An early focus will be on funding projects located within priority landscapes established by Panthera that form the Jaguar Corridor— a mosaic of landscapes that connect and protect jaguar populations, ensuring the species' gene flow and long-term survival. These corridors are not only vital for jaguars, but are also home to many Indigenous and traditional communities whose stewardship is essential to protecting these ecosystems.

The finance the bond initiative intends to deliver will be used to implement conservation activities that, if successful, will generate high-integrity carbon credits over the 40-year lifespan of the projects. The sale of these carbon credits is projected to generate over $1 billion in the first 10 years, ensuring the projects' financial sustainability and delivering lasting impact for communities, biodiversity, and climate mitigation.

Crucially, the Equitable Earth Standard requires that each project agrees a fair and equitable revenue sharing plan with Indigenous and traditional communities - so communities can invest in their own development priorities.

Chief Uraan Anderson Suruí, Traditional Leader of the Paiter Suruí People, said:
"For generations, our communities have protected the forests because we understand that our survival — and the survival of all life — depends on them. Yet too often, decisions about climate finance have been made without us, and resources have failed to reach the ground where they are needed most. With the Equitable Earth Standard and this new initiative led by Everland and BNP Paribas, a door is opening — creating a direct path for Indigenous and traditional peoples to access the financing we need to protect our territories, strengthen our cultures, and secure our future. This is not just an investment in carbon credits; it is an investment in our way of life, in the forests that sustain humanity, and in building a more just and sustainable world for all."

Constance Chalchat, Global Chief Sustainability Officer, BNP Paribas Corporate & Institutional Banking said:
"Conservation is about safeguarding the natural resources that underpin countries' long-term prosperity. From forests and water systems to working lands, we help finance efforts to responsibly manage and restore nature so that ecosystems continue delivering services to communities and economies. Indigenous Peoples have safeguarded these vital ecosystems for generations, and Indigenous knowledge, combined with sustainable financial mechanisms, is essential to driving long-term investments that deliver measurable and lasting climate, biodiversity and community outcomes. This initiative exemplifies how aligning private sector investment with Indigenous expertise can secure the long-term value of forests for people, economies, and our planet."

Gerald Prolman, Executive Chairman, Everland said:
"Early-stage funding remains one of the biggest barriers to advancing REDD+ projects. Far too many high-impact initiatives stall before they start—not because of a lack of commitment or potential, but because communities lack access to upfront capital. This initiative is a breakthrough. It unlocks financing to launch 20 transformative, Indigenous-led forest conservation projects that can deliver measurable climate, biodiversity, and social outcomes. By combining private capital with Indigenous leadership, we're not just enabling the market to access high-integrity carbon credits—we're investing in the people and places that provide critical ecosystem services essential to the survival of our planet."

Frédéric Launay, President & CEO of Panthera, said:
"In supporting and, rightly, placing the ownership of Amazon forest conservation in the hands of the world's ultimate guardians of nature – Indigenous and traditional communities – this bond initiative brings us one step closer to realizing the vision of the Jaguar Corridor, of which my predecessor, CEO and Panthera Co-Founder, Dr. Alan Rabinowitz, dreamt. Serving up a community-centered conservation model that would benefit all to replicate, the initiative will strengthen the protection of Latin America's biodiverse-rich forests and the interconnected human and wild life within them, while appreciating the intrinsic and superior role of Indigenous and traditional peoples in directly managing preservation of our planet. The relationships between the Indigenous and traditional communities of the Amazon and jaguars are sacred and inestimable, and if honored appropriately, will provide extraordinary momentum for the global community's climate actions and safeguarding of critical habitats and biodiversity for generations to come."

Michael Sheldrick, Co-Founder and Chief Policy, Impact and Government Relations Officer, Global Citizen said: "As Global Citizen continues to advocate for purposeful action to protect the Amazon—the world's most vital carbon sink, we're eager to support Everland and BNP Paribas' innovative bond initiative to fund conservation projects in the region. Deforestation may begin as a local crisis but the ripple effects threaten us all. The effort to protect the Amazon, led by Indigenous communities, will protect the earth's most critical life source for generations to come."

Beto Borges, Director, Communities Territorial Governance Initiative, Forest Trends and Chair, Indigenous Peoples & Local Communities Guidance Council, Equitable Earth Coalition said:
"This initiative has the potential to deliver what many Indigenous communities have long called for—equitable finance that acknowledges and values their essential role in protecting some of the world's most critical remaining forest ecosystems. Directing funding to projects aiming for certification under the Equitable Earth Standard is a significant step toward aligning private capital with Indigenous-led solutions."

The Outcome Bond Partnership

BNP Paribas will structure the financing mechanism and is especially drawn to Everland's commitment to community-led projects that prioritize both impacts for communities and for biodiversity. This matches the Bank's core values of sustainability and responsible stewardship and is a key factor in their support for this initiative.

Everland will play a central role in bringing the bond initiative to life by ensuring that projects are well-prepared, high-impact, and positioned for long-term success. This includes identifying and vetting projects, conducting on-the-ground due diligence, and overseeing the development process to ensure projects meet the requirements for the project finance milestone payments. Everland will also lead the marketing of carbon credits for the portfolio of forest conservation projects, representing their interests in the international market.

The Projects

Projects financed under the bond initiative must meet high-integrity conservation and community development criteria under the Equitable Earth Standard. As a payment-for-performance model, Equitable Earth ensures that Indigenous and traditional communities receive direct investment based on the successful conservation of critical ecosystems.

A key focus of this initiative will be projects in at-risk landscapes within the Jaguar Corridor, in the core jaguar population within the Amazon, which is the world's largest connected habitat for jaguars. Investments in the conservation of this core jaguar population will help protect millions of hectares of forest that are vital to the survival of the jaguar, and the countless other species that inhabit these ecosystems. These forests are also the ancestral homelands of Indigenous and traditional communities, who have long served as their guardians. This initiative will channel resources directly to these communities, providing investment to confront growing threats to their forests, their rights, and to sustain their way of life.

High-integrity carbon credits

The climate impact of the projects will be measured by their ability to reduce ongoing deforestation that would otherwise continue. This generates verified carbon credits, each representing one ton of CO₂ prevented from entering the atmosphere. Emissions reductions will be third-party verified and tied to measurable avoided deforestation, thereby providing companies with a tangible way to meet their climate goals while directing investment to communities on the frontlines of conservation.

The Equitable Earth Standard is supported by a coalition of the world's leading forest carbon project developers, NGOs, and technical experts - including specialists in remote sensing, GIS, and satellite monitoring, as well as forest carbon scientists and climate data analysts. These experts play a critical role in measuring carbon storage, tracking deforestation trends, and ensuring the scientific integrity of Equitable Earth projects' emissions reductions.

Global context

The world faces an escalating climate and biodiversity crisis driven by deforestation and ecosystem destruction. Indigenous Peoples have been the foremost protectors of the world's forests for millennia, yet they receive only a fraction of the financial support needed to continue their essential role in conservation. The initiative announced today recognizes Indigenous ecological expertise through direct investment, helping to provide the financial resources necessary for communities to fund their own goals and to continue protecting the world's most vital ecosystems—benefiting not just communities, but the entire planet.

The announcement took place at Global Citizen NOW on 30 April 2025, in New York City, where global leaders, financial institutions, Indigenous representatives, and conservation experts gathered to advance solutions for climate and social impact.

As the world prepares for COP30 in Belém, Brazil, this initiative fully aligns with President Lula's ambition to raise major investment to protect the Amazon - again demonstrating the critical role of Indigenous-led conservation and private sector finance in achieving global climate goals.

About Everland
Everland is a specialized conservation marketing organization in the climate change mitigation business that exclusively represents the Voluntary Carbon Market's largest portfolio of high-impact, community-centered, forest conservation (REDD+) projects. Through these projects, Everland brings together communities and corporations in common cause to protect some of the world's most important and vulnerable forests.
everland.earth

About Equitable Earth
Equitable Earth is a groundbreaking standard that integrates technical innovation and conservation best practices with the priorities of Indigenous Peoples, traditional communities, and Global South governments to stop deforestation and secure the long-term protection of the world's vital ecosystems. By meeting market demands for high integrity, radical transparency, and robust science, Equitable Earth ensures that those leading the protection of forests receive the necessary investment to sustain durable conservation for generations to come.
eq-earth.com

About Panthera
Founded in 2006, Panthera is devoted to preserving wild cats and their critical role in the world's ecosystems. Panthera's team of leading biologists, law enforcement experts and wild cat advocates develop innovative strategies based on the best available science to protect cheetahs, jaguars, leopards, lions, pumas, snow leopards, tigers and the 33 small cat species and their vast landscapes. In 39 countries around the world, Panthera works with a wide variety of stakeholders to reduce or eliminate the most pressing threats to wild cats—securing their future, and ours. Visit Panthera.org

About the Jaguar Corridor Initiative
Panthera's Jaguar Corridor Initiative is an ambitious conservation strategy that aims to preserve the physical and genetic connectivity of jaguars throughout their 6 million km² range, from Mexico to Argentina. Recognizing that jaguars require vast territories to thrive, Panthera works with governments, local communities, and other stakeholders to establish a network of safe passages, or corridors, to ensure connectivity among core jaguar populations. Learn more about the Jaguar Corridor Initiative.