This gorilla does not know, but has a bank account
The age of “interspecific money” arrived. A revolutionary approach to the conservation of biodiversity and the protection of non -human life on earth allows nature to “pay for its own survival”.
The CEO and founder of, Jonathan Ledgarddeveloped the concept of “interspecific money”.
Observing the current biodiversity crisis, marked by an unprecedented natural decline, Ledgard identified what he considers to be the core of the problem: Global Economy underestimates the value Monetary of nature.
A few years ago, the Scottish writer and technologist I launch the idea of creating a technology that allows animals, trees, microorganisms, etc., have digital currency.
That currency would then be spent on its benefitfinancing conservation actions. The management and use of money would not be decided by the “holders” of the account, but by artificial intelligence.
The proposal is no longer just theoretical. In 2024, Tehanu began to test the concept with a Family of gorillas at the Volcano National Park, in Rwanda.
A rise of humanity was not kind to the gorillaone of our closest living relatives. The stealth hunting and the loss of habitat devastated their populations, says the.
Thanks to intense conservation efforts, the number of gorillas increased in recent years, But there are still only about a thousand in nature. More than half lives in Viruga Cordillera, where the Volcano National Park is located.
Under the name Tehanu N.º 1Startup’s first project began by collecting known all available information about Gorilla-Gorilla. This data was used to Train an AI modelwhich created individual gorilla profiles using facial recognition.
After being identified individually, Each gorilla received a digital identity associated with a electronic wallet. Then money from existing conservation funds was attributed to each gorilla.
A he then spent this money in the name of each animal. Tehanu calls this phase of expense an extension of the “occasional work economy” (gig economy).
The program creates green jobswhere locals perform conservation tasks and are paid for it. These tasks may include planting trees, installing cameras, ensuring priority access to drinking fountains, or whatever I will determine the interest of the gorilla (or, in the future, of other species).
Startup founders see their system as a way of creating jobs in the poorest regions and rich in biodiversity. The protection of nature would become directly and monetary.
Ledgard’s idea is as simple as revolutionary. In the global economic system we live in, we cannot take care of anything that makes no profit. So let’s try to make the care we give to gorillas, giraffes, pines, frogs… or simple microbes.
