VOA新闻杂志2022--巴西企业欲用“非同质代币”拯救雨林

Brazilian Company Wants to Save Amazon with NFTs

A Brazilian company is offering a way to help save the Amazon rainforest by selling non-fungible tokens.

A non-fungible token, or NFT, is based on a technology called blockchain, which is also used with digital money known as cryptocurrencies.

An NFT can be attached to a piece of digital artwork or other things existing in digital form. The NFT can be used to provide proof that the pieces are real. While anyone can view the work, the buyer has official ownership rights over the pieces.

The Brazilian company Nemus owns 410 square kilometers of Amazon rainforest. It began selling NFTs to permit buyers to support different sized areas of forest. The money is used to help protect the trees, regrow cleared areas and support environmental development.

NFT holders¹ will not own the land itself. But they will be able to view important information about its protection. That information includes satellite imagery, licensing² and other documentation, said Nemus founder³ Flavio de Meira Penna.

He said Nemus had sold 10 percent of its first offering of NFTs for 8,000 hectares on the first day.

Penna told Reuters that he thinks the company's NFTs will continue to sell quickly.

Areas of land differ in size, from less than one hectare to 81 hectares. Buyers will be able to find the area of land they are supporting with online maps.

NFTs for the smallest areas of land sell for $150 and the largest for $51,000, said Penna. He hopes to raise up to $5 million to buy an additional 2 million hectares of land in Amazonas state.

Penna said the money will also support environmental development efforts such as harvesting açaí berries and Brazil nuts from local communities.

Each NFT comes with artwork of an Amazon plant or animal. The artwork is produced by content developer and NFT publisher Concept Art House of San Francisco, California.

Some critics have questioned the value of NFTs for environmental causes. Blockchain technology requires great computing⁴ power, increasing the use of electricity that releases climate-warming greenhouse gases.

But Penna disagrees. He says saving threatened areas of the Amazon far outweighs⁵ the environmental cost of trading in NFTs.

Words in This Story

digital – adj. characterized by electronic and especially computerized technology

licensing – n. permission to do something granted especially by qualified⁶ authority

greenhouse gas – n. any of various gaseous⁷ compounds such as carbon dioxide or methane⁸ that absorb infrared⁹ radiation, trap heat in the atmosphere.

1 holders   

支持物( holder的名词复数 )； 持有者； （支票等）持有人； 支托（或握持）…之物

参考例句：

• Slaves were mercilessly ground down by slave holders. 奴隶受奴隶主的残酷压迫。
• It is recognition of compassion's part that leads the up-holders of capital punishment to accuse the abolitionists of sentimentality in being more sorry for the murderer than for his victim. 正是对怜悯的作用有了认识，才使得死刑的提倡者指控主张废除死刑的人感情用事，同情谋杀犯胜过同情受害者。

2 licensing   

v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• A large part of state regulation consists of occupational licensing. 大部分州的管理涉及行业的特许批准。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• That licensing procedures for projects would move faster. 这样的工程批准程序一定会加快。 来自辞典例句

3 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

4 computing   

n.计算

参考例句：

• to work in computing 从事信息处理
• Back in the dark ages of computing, in about 1980, they started a software company. 早在计算机尚未普及的时代（约1980年），他们就创办了软件公司。

5 outweighs   

v.在重量上超过( outweigh的第三人称单数 )；在重要性或价值方面超过

参考例句：

• Her need to save money outweighs her desire to spend it on fun. 她省钱的需要比她花钱娱乐的愿望更重要。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Its clarity in algebraic and analytical operations far outweighs any drawbacks. 文化代数和解析运算中的清晰性远远胜过任何缺点。 来自辞典例句

6 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

7 gaseous   

adj.气体的，气态的

参考例句：

• Air whether in the gaseous or liquid state is a fluid.空气，无论是气态的或是液态的，都是一种流体。
• Freon exists both in liquid and gaseous states.氟利昂有液态和气态两种形态。

8 methane   

n.甲烷，沼气

参考例句：

• The blast was caused by pockets of methane gas that ignited.爆炸是由数袋甲烷气体着火引起的。
• Methane may have extraterrestrial significance.甲烷具有星际意义。

9 infrared   

adj./n.红外线(的)

参考例句：

• Infrared is widely used in industry and medical science.红外线广泛应用于工业和医学科学。
• Infrared radiation has wavelengths longer than those of visible light.红外辐射的波长比可见光的波长长。