The Big Picture
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when creating them.” - Albert Einstein
Our mission is to provide a sustainable and regenerative global solution to the biodiversity crisis. We believe humanity is the global “keystone” species - which means fulfilling our role as custodians (or Guardians) of nature is critical not just for our own survival, but for the ecosystem in which we live. If we (re)embrace this role, nature will thrive. The solution to the biodiversity crisis, therefore, requires an urgent realignment of human motivation and behaviour with the natural world. A combination of mainstream technologies (such as online gaming) and market economics is the ONLY way to transform enough people’s behaviour, quickly enough, to reverse the biodiversity crisis before it’s too late. We understand the enormity of the problem being addressed. Guardians of Earth is transforming business behaviour and creating new markets, which means we don’t have all the answers. This document is intended to be a living and flexible record of growth, knowledge, and humility, with indigenous knowledge systems serving as a touchstone for the development of our business and products.
What is Guardians of Earth (GoE)?
Guardians of Earth is a platform that combines the power of personal technology, gamification, and community engagement to foster a deeper connection between people and the natural world. It consists of three core elements:
The Games: Immersive real-world adventures where players, known as Explorers, embark on an adventure to discover the magic of life and document biodiversity. By playing, they contribute valuable data to biodiversity research and conservation efforts.
Nature Realms: These are digital representations of real-world locations, each with its unique biodiversity. Explorers can visit these realms, learn about the local flora and fauna, and contribute to the understanding and preservation of these ecosystems.
The Oracle: A knowledge-sharing platform where players can learn from and interact with a community of experts, known as Elders. The Oracle rewards the sharing of nature knowledge, validating biodiversity data, and inspiring novice players.
Guardians of Earth empowers individuals to become active participants in the restoration and understanding of our natural world, fostering a global community of nature guardians. It's about more than just playing a game; it's about awakening the wild within each of us and becoming custodians of the Earth.
How can I get involved with Guardians of Earth?
There are several ways you can get involved with Guardians of Earth:
Play the Games: Embark on real-world adventures with our new games (coming soon), immersing yourself in the magic of nature and contributing to biodiversity research and conservation. Before the new games launch, you can start your real-world adventures with QuestaGame (the precursor to the Guardians games - where this whole journey began).
Explore Nature Realms: Visit our Nature Realms, unique digital spaces that connect you with the land and life around you. You can contribute to these realms by documenting and sharing your observations of local biodiversity.
Become a Partner: If you're part of an organization that shares our mission, consider partnering with us. We collaborate with a variety of organizations, from conservation groups to educational institutions, to expand our impact. Reach out here: Contact us.
Remember, every action counts. Whether you're a seasoned naturalist or a curious beginner, your participation can make a real difference for our planet.
How does Guardians of Earth contribute to biodiversity research and conservation?
Guardians of Earth contributes to biodiversity research and conservation in several key ways:
Data Collection: Through our games and Nature Realms, players document and share observations of local biodiversity. This crowdsourced data, which can include species sightings, behaviours, habitats and stories, provides valuable information to assess the health of an ecosystem.
Data Validation: Our Oracle of Life platform allows experts and knowledgeable community members to validate the data collected by players. This ensures that the information used in research is accurate and reliable.
Public Engagement and Personal Connection: By making biodiversity research and conservation fun and accessible, we engage a broad audience in these important issues. This not only increases public awareness and understanding but also encourages more people to contribute to research and conservation efforts - and become custodians (or Guardians) of Earth. Importantly, our platform fosters a personal connection to nature, which is a powerful motivator for conservation action. We can not protect that which we don't first experience and value.
Partnerships: We collaborate with research institutions, conservation organizations, corporations, governments - just about any organisation - to maximize the impact of our work. These partnerships can lead to new research projects, conservation initiatives, and educational programs.
Advocacy: Through our platform and community, we advocate for the importance of biodiversity and the need for conservation. We believe that everyone can, and must, play a role in protecting our planet's biodiversity. We provide the tools and opportunities for them to do so.
How does it save life on Earth?
The value of natural capital has been grossly undervalued over the last several hundred years, especially during the period of large-scale colonial expansion from the 1600s. With the signing of COP15, the development of the Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosure (TNFD), BloombergNEF, and several other frameworks, the undervaluing of natural capital is finally being recognised. Everyone from governments, to educators, to nature tour operators, to corporate CFOs around the world are beginning to see the importance of accounting for nature. The real challenge is how to measure, verify and report (MRV) - or more simply - how to communicate that value transparently and in a way that fosters human custodianship. Guardians of Earth provides biodiversity technology that is accessible to, and powered by, everyone. This means that anyone, anywhere in the world can easily see the health of the land, and believe in it, because it has been transparently verified by trusted, community-vetted custodians (see the Oracle of Life). They can not only receive reliable advice on how best to repair and care for the land, but they can receive market-determined financial rewards for doing so. Ultimately, this creates a "biodiversity economy," with investors taking stakes in the biodiversity health of the land (what we call "Nature Realms") and the custodians being rewarded for their ability to increase the value of those stakes, i.e. carry out rewilding activities. In this way, with over 100 million custodians of the land (with financial stakes), across 1 million locations, we believe the biodiversity crisis can be reversed in five years.
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