In celebration of World Gorilla Day on September 24, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund is announcing plans to launch an exclusive line of carbon-neutral non-fungible tokens, Moon Gorillas, in partnership with Bioeconomy and PERL.eco. One hundred percent of proceeds from the NFTs will be used to support the Fossey Fund’s critical on-the-ground conservation programes in Rwanda and Congo.
The fundraiser marks a first for the Fossey Fund in deploying one of humanity’s latest technological innovations for the express purpose of protecting one of its oldest cousins.
The campaign named Moon Gorillas is a partnership between the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund and technology partners Bioeconomy and PERL.eco blockchain division. It will create 10,000 uniquely designed carbon-neutral NFTs and the Fossey Fund will apply proceeds from these digital gorillas toward the conservation of real-world endangered gorillas, which face threats from habitat loss, poaching and climate change. One percent of the NFTs will be enhanced using augmented reality (AR) art developed in collaboration with Facebook to offer collectors a unique opportunity to engage with their virtual gorilla.
“We’re excited about the opportunity to use carbon-neutral NFT technology to connect collectors with endangered gorillas in the real world. Gorillas are one of our planet’s most at risk species and their forest home, which is the second largest rainforest left on the planet, is one of our best natural defenses against climate change.” said Dr. Tara Stoinski, CEO and chief scientific officer of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund. “We appreciate that partners Bioeconomy and PERL.eco understand the conservation, climate and NFT communities and are able to deliver this technology in an environmentally friendly way to support our work.”
“Moon Gorillas will present the NFT community with an opportunity to own a uniquely designed digital gorilla with the added benefit of knowing that their investment is protecting gorillas in the wild by supporting the work of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, one of the world’s most prestigious and impactful conservation groups,” said Dorjee Sun, CEO of Bioeconomy and co-founder of PERL.eco, which is responsible for creating PERL NFTs including Moon Gorillas and the platform for offsetting carbon emissions with tokenised carbon credits that can be burnt to be retired.
The mission to develop leading edge technology solutions that support conservation and the environment is also being recognised by corporate tech giants. Facebook is collaborating with PERL.eco to develop augmented reality (AR) filters for the 1 per cent of NFTs created with enhanced features.
“We are proud that Spark AR can allow people to create a visual representation of their NFT to support the work of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund. Bioeconomy’s use of augmented reality on PERL.eco’s PERL NFTs brings the important message of Gorilla Day literally to the hands of people through their experience on Facebook and Instagram and raise more awareness to gorilla conservation,” said Emmanuel Lusinchi, Head of Augmented Reality and Gaming Partner Engineering APAC, Facebook.
World Gorilla Day commemorates the date more than fifty years ago that Dian Fossey set up camp on a mountain slope in Rwanda to study endangered gorillas. Today, the date inspires people to act to raise awareness for and contribute to gorilla conservation. This year, Moon Gorillas provide an opportunity for new and existing NFT collectors to appreciate unique, digital art gorillas, while at the same time supporting the survival of endangered wild gorillas. To learn more about Moon Gorillas and its anticipated launch later this year, visit: www.perl.eco
To learn more about the Fossey Fund and World Gorilla Day, visit: www.gorillafund.org
About
Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund is dedicated to protecting gorillas, and helping and educating the people who live near them, including operating the longest running gorilla research site in the world. To learn more, visit www.gorillafund.org
PERL.eco uses blockchain technologies to tokenise real-world ecological assets such as carbon credits, and to incentivise protection of the environment and biodiversity, including through rewards and NFTs. To learn more, visit www.perl.eco
Bioeconomy provides carbon, sustainability and technology services to organisations and companies, with a mission to change the traditional economy to a bioeconomy where natural capital is appreciated. To learn more, visit www.bioeconomy.co
Spark AR by Facebook and Instagram allows you to create and share augmented reality experiences that reach the billions of people using the Facebook family of apps and devices. To learn more, visit https://sparkar.facebook.com/ar-studio/
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For further media information, contact: Amanda@perl.eco
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