What is the innovation?
Greenstand’s TreeTracker is an open-source, mobile-based platform that verifies tree growth and connects smallholder tree growers to global climate finance. Using geo-tagged photos and AI-driven analysis, the platform generates verifiable data to track tree survival, species, and ecosystem services. These verified impacts are tokenized and traded, enabling donors and corporations to fund real, on-the-ground restoration efforts. Tree growers receive compensation only for living trees, ensuring long-term care. The system creates transparency, accountability, and livelihood opportunities in impoverished regions, redefining climate action as an inclusive, data-driven employment model.
Application to Pacific Regional Climate Challenges
Pacific Island Countries face rising sea levels, biodiversity loss, and limited economic options for rural communities. TreeTracker addresses these by enabling local people to plant, monitor, and earn income from trees, contributing to both climate resilience and livelihoods. Its adaptability to low-connectivity environments makes it ideal for remote island communities. The innovation respects indigenous knowledge by allowing native tree species and community-driven restoration goals. Outcomes include increased tree survival rates, biodiversity restoration, and community empowerment. It shifts reforestation from a top-down, donor-centric model to a grassroots, inclusive ecosystem that values local participation and long-term ecological health.
Experience in Implementation
Greenstand’s TreeTracker platform has been actively used across the Pacific region and broader Asia-Pacific, with the following verified tree captures:
● Fiji: 5 captures
● Papua New Guinea: 1 capture
● Australia: 27 captures
● Indonesia: 6,901 captures
● Philippines: 2,868 captures
● Japan: 64 captures
● Taiwan: 1 capture
● Malaysia: 8,409 captures
These figures represent verified tree data submitted through the TreeTracker app and reflect real engagement with growers in these countries. While some countries like Fiji and Papua New Guinea are in early stages of adoption, others such as Indonesia and Malaysia show significant implementation, providing a foundation for scaling across more Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs). Beyond the Pacific, TreeTracker has been successfully implemented in:
● Sierra Leone (Freetown): Custom version for city-wide reforestation, based on feedback from 310 community meetings, achieving 80% survival rates.
● Tanzania, Haiti, and 86 other countries: Used by over 6,000 growers and 100+ community-based organizations.
● Global reach: 7+ million trees verified, with a 90% average survival rate in tracked programs.
Replication and Upscaling in PICTs
TreeTracker is fully open-source and modular, enabling local customization. It works on basic smartphones and low-bandwidth networks, ideal for Pacific Islands. Scaling involves training local partners, integrating native species, and embedding into local policy frameworks. Its blockchain-based token system can enable peer-to-peer climate finance across island nations. The platform can serve as a regional climate data infrastructure while empowering thousands of local stewards.
Next Steps
Greenstand is scaling an AI-powered solution that verifies and values environmental restoration work done by individuals in underserved communities. Over the next 12 months, our next steps are to:
● Advance AI models to expand species recognition and improve capture association, critical to verifying long-term tree growth and ecological impact.
● Expand regionally, particularly in the Pacific, by adapting the TreeTracker tool to local ecosystems and onboarding new partners to collect data and deliver community-based environmental action.
● Enhance usability by incorporating user feedback from people with limited literacy and tech access, ensuring the tool remains inclusive, particularly for women, youth, and Indigenous growers.
● Scale data infrastructure and impact verification, enabling traceable micropayments for ecosystem services and expanding the marketplace for Greenstand Impact Tokens.
● Develop open-source tools and deployment documentation to support replication in new regions.
To succeed, we need funding for technical development, community onboarding, and to build out infrastructure that supports impact ownership by those restoring ecosystems. We envision TreeTracker becoming a foundational tool for climate finance systems that are inclusive, verifiable, and community-driven
