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BIRA brings together project developers, innovators and funders working at the intersection of biodiversity, regenerative agriculture and nature-based solutions across Africa. The program focuses on strengthening investment-ready, high-integrity models that restore ecosystems while delivering durable social and economic value.

The selection of TERAKA recognises the project’s approach to agroforestry, soil regeneration and community-led governance, as well as its ambition to combine carbon removals with strong biodiversity and social co-benefits. Healthy soils are a central pillar of this vision, underpinning tree survival, agricultural resilience and long-term ecosystem restoration.

Mathieu & Cédric, Founders of iTeraka: "We are grateful to the BIRA team for their trust and support, and we look forward to contributing to a growing community committed to building a nature-positive economy rooted in local action and long-term impact." 

As part of the BIRA programme, TERAKA is subjected to an independent, in-depth, due diligence undertaken by Xilva. Due Diligence is the investigation, research or ‘exercise of care’ organisations need to undertake to ensure that their deployment of capital or purchase is aligned with their company ethics and strategy. It is required by investors and carbon credit buyers alike to evaluate and scrutinize critical aspects including delivery, performance metrics, track record, alignment with risk management criteria and social license. This is undertaken as part of BIRA to enable investors to make more informed decisions and to inform iTeraka's approach to further strengthening transparency and investment readiness.

Through the BIRA programme, iTeraka will further deepen its biodiversity strategy, strengthen its investment framework and continue building bridges between carbon integrity, ecosystem regeneration and rural livelihoods.

Kyrin Pollock, National Geographic Explorer and ChirpTrack Project Lead: “Our initiative with iTeraka brings local farmers and naturalist guides into the heart of biodiversity monitoring - listening to landscapes and recording what's there. Combined with Al tools developed alongside scientific partners, these shared observations help turn local knowledge into actionable insight, strengthening place-based environmental management and more transparent, landscape-level impact tracking." 

Through ChirpTrack, iTeraka reinforces its commitment to high-integrity nature-based solutions, demonstrating how community-driven reforestation can deliver measurable biodiversity outcomes alongside carbon removals. This initiative marks an important step in bridging local action, scientific innovation and credible impact measurement within the TERAKA programme.

On this occasion, Mirova highlights the vision, ambition and approach of the projects including TERAKA project and iTeraka in its official press release:

Gautier Quéru, Managing Director, Natural Capital, Mirova: “We are witnessing an acceleration in the mobilization of private and corporate investors who are increasingly recognizing the critical importance of decarbonizing their own activities but also to contribute to efforts beyond their value chains. We are proud to present three new investees that promise to deliver strong positive impacts on both environmental and social fronts, while also offering attractive return potentials.”

[…]

Nurtured in the HEC Paris C+ incubator and honed through hands on immersion in the TIST model and its 250,000 East African smallholders, the French mission led company iTeraka blends rigorous climate science with grassroots ingenuity across Madagascar. Co founders Mathieu Rahm and Cédric de Foucault have implemented a governance system in which farmers self organise into clusters, elect peer leaders, and cross pollinate best practices from field to field. A smartphone based monitoring platform, independently verified, produces transparent, high integrity carbon credits and measurable SDG impact while returning 70% of net revenue to smallholders via mobile money. Training spans climate smart agriculture and environmental leadership, empowering the next generation to see standing forests as both a source of pride and a bankable asset. This multi benefit model positions iTeraka as a catalyst for a nationwide mosaic of smallholder owned carbon and biodiversity groves that combat climate change, restore soils and ecosystems, and spark rural entrepreneurship."

https://www.mirova.com_250424_PressRelease-Carbon-Strategies.pdf

This CEPF grant supports the development of a pilot implementation of the TERAKA smallholder reforestation model on the western edge of the Fandriana–Marolambo Corridor, a recognised Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) in central Madagascar. The corridor is a strategic landscape for biodiversity conservation, hosting high levels of endemism while facing strong pressure from land degradation and deforestation.

As part of this initiative, our team conducted a field mission to the Fandriana District in mid-July 2023. The objective was to assess local conditions, engage with communities and authorities, and lay the groundwork for a farmer-led restoration approach aligned with both biodiversity conservation and rural livelihoods.

During this mission, constructive meetings were held with local administrative authorities, ensuring alignment with local development priorities and establishing a solid institutional foundation for the successful implementation of the project.

This CEPF-supported pilot represents an important step in adapting and testing the TERAKA model in a high-biodiversity landscape, reinforcing iTeraka’s commitment to community-led conservation, ecosystem restoration and long-term resilience in Madagascar.

Since 1999, TIST has demonstrated that farmer-led governance, peer-to-peer knowledge sharing (“cross-fertilisation”), and culturally embedded leadership can deliver ecological outcomes, carbon revenues and long-term permanence, and large-scale adoption. As the first carbon programme certified under both VCS and CCB, TIST has successfully engaged more than 200,000 farmers, sharing 70% of net revenues with them and setting a benchmark for integrity, scale, and community alignment.

Scientific evidence, including Buxton et al. (2021) published in Nature, shows that TIST generates rapid and measurable regreening effects, not only on participating farms but also across neighbouring landscapes, as observed through satellite monitoring. This demonstrates the capacity of such models to deliver early, observable nature outcomes alongside carbon removals.

Building on this proven foundation, TERAKA has introduced targeted innovations adapted to the Malagasy context, including:

• enhanced remuneration for fruit and endemic tree species,

• long-term conservation income extending from year 20 to year 100, strengthening permanence,

• and the progressive development of biodiversity credits, reflecting Madagascar’s exceptional natural capital and emerging ethical sourcing value chains.