The story so far

We partnered with WWF to co-create a pilot project in the Büyük Menderes Basin, Turkey. During the first fundraising round we helped raise awareness and share information about what regenerative agriculture is. Put simply, “regenerative agriculture” means that farmers set holistic practices into place for improving the health of their soil. These practices include no-deep tilling, cover-crop and perennial planting, composting, integrated pest management, and more.

By following these practices, farmers can improve biodiversity and natural water cycles, increase organic matter in the soil, and help to draw more carbon down from the atmosphere than they produce. Switching modern agricultural practices to regenerative practices will be instrumental in helping to reverse climate change.

In early 2021, the WWF team in Turkey set out to find a suitable farmland for the pilot project. Unfortunately, after thorough field tests in April 2021, the land originally set aside for the pilot project was deemed unsuitable. Essentially, this land was infertile and not suitable for cotton production. Further delays were caused by water scarcity in the area as a result of climate change — the exact crisis we are aiming to help solve with this project.

Fortunately, WWF were able to extend the duration of the project at no additional cost — and find a new piece of land to transition. But we still need funds to keep it going. The farmers will need to purchase equipment, we need to pay project managers, field testers and cover the cost of the full transition.