Sustainacraft launches collaboration with Conservation International (CI-Brazil) with support from IDB Lab and JICA
Developing a monitoring scheme for reforestation projects in the Amazon Rainforest, Atlantic Forest, and Cerrado biomes
sustainacraft inc. is pleased to announce that it has signed a grant agreement with Conservation International (CI-Brazil) for sustainable forest management in Brazil through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and IDB Lab (member of the Inter-American Development Bank) joint program TSUBASA. This signing of the agreement for this collaboration was announced at the Japan-Brazil Economic Forum held on March 26, 2025, with President Lula and Prime Minister Ishiba in attendance.
Conservation International is one of the world's largest environmental non-profit organizations, with offices in more than 30 countries around the globe. sustainacraft is a Tokyo-based startup specializing in due diligence of nature-based carbon credits with the mission of promoting the circulation of funds for natural capital.
Amelia Juhl (Country Director, CI-Japan) and Katsumasa Hamaguchi (VP of Business Development, sustainacraft) (bottom row, leftmost and second from left, respectively) with an agreement announcing the collaboration of sustainacraft with CI-Brazil at the Japan-Brazil Economic Forum, pictured with President Lula and Prime Minister Ishiba (center, on stage). (Photo source: Japan Prime Minister’s Official Website)
Goals of the collaboration
CI-Brazil and sustainacraft will combine both parties’ facilities, data, and human resources to develop a carbon accounting solution that properly measures and manages biomass, biodiversity, and carbon dioxide reductions, as well as an online digital platform that can publish the results.
The goal is not only to evaluate carbon accumulation in forest regeneration projects in which CI-Brazil is participating as an impact advisor, but also to identify effective forest regeneration strategies (e.g., assisted natural regeneration, enrichment planting, etc.) and quantify their effectiveness in different settings. The target areas cover three biomes: the Amazon Rainforest, the Atlantic Forest, and the Cerrado.
sustainacraft and CI-Brazil team members visiting a restoration site in Bahia, Brazil in March 2025.
Main activities:
Stakeholder engagement
Site selection
Data collection and geospatial analysis
Publishing results on an online digital platform
Context for the collaboration
In 2021, sustainacraft was selected for "TSUBASA", a support program run by JICA and IDB Lab, which supports Japanese startups doing work that can help address development issues in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Through this program, sustainacraft advanced its study of business ideas relating to remote sensing-based forest biomass measurement, and CI-Brazil was identified as a potential partner for these efforts. Recognizing the collaboration as a "pilot project with the potential for large development impacts and future scale-up,” IDB lab approved to support the collaboration between sustainacraft and CI-Brazil after the program ended. The Japanese government has provided funding for the project through a trust fund established by IDB.
Comment from Dr. Bruno Coutinho, Director of Knowledge Management, CI-Brazil
“This cooperation with the Japanese startup company sustainacraft is a very important initiative for Conservation International (CI-Brazil), given the country's challenge of restoring and monitoring 12 million hectares of native ecosystems by 2030, as Nationally Determined Contributions. The objective is to generate an observation model with orbital sensors based on field reality for large-scale monitoring of restoration initiatives in Brazil.”
Conservation of Brazilian forests has global implications for climate change mitigation.
About TSUBASA
Transformational Startups' Business Acceleration for the SDGs Agenda (TSUBASA) was launched in 2021 as a collaboration between JICA and IDB Lab to support Japanese startups whose work can address development issues in Latin America and the Caribbean, such as deforestation and environmental conservation, water resource management, improved access to medical care and other issues. JICA has built up a network and knowledge through over 50 years of Official Development Assistance projects in Latin America and the Caribbean, and IDB Lab is the innovation lab of the IDB, which is the largest international development bank in the region. (https://tsubasa-jica.com)
About IDB and IDB Lab
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) was established in 1959 with the aim of contributing to the economic and social development of Latin America and the Caribbean member countries. (https://www.iadb.org/en)
IDB Lab is another name for the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), which provides loans and technical cooperation to promote innovation in the private sector within the IDB Group.
It provides funds and knowledge as an "innovation lab" to realize innovative approaches to improving the living standards of people in Latin America and the Caribbean. Since its establishment in 1993, it has carried out projects in 26 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, with a cumulative contribution of more than 2 billion USD. Japan is the top donor to IDB Lab.
About Conservation International (CI-Brazil)
Conservation International protects nature for the benefit of humanity. Through science, policy, and partnerships CI protects the nature that people rely on for food, fresh water, and livelihoods. In Brazil since 1990, Conservation International works in more than 30 countries and has projects in more than 100 countries. Conservation International partners with governments, companies, civil society, Indigenous peoples and local communities to help people and nature thrive together. Learn more at: www.conservacao.org.br
About sustainacraft, Inc.
sustainacraft is a startup specializing in due diligence of nature-based carbon credits, with the mission of "promoting the circulation of funds to natural capital." In September 2024, sustainacraft launched a "joint procurement platform" that allows participants to efficiently procure reliable overseas carbon credits from multiple project developers.
<Company Overview>
・Company name: sustainacraft, Inc.
・Established: October 1, 2021
・Representatie: Hiroshi Suetsugu
・Capital: 336,010,000 yen (including capital reserve)
・Investors: Inclusion Japan Co., Ltd., Mitsubishi UFJ Innovation Partners Co., Ltd., JAFCO Group Co., Ltd.
・Location: 2-11-3, Meguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo
・Company website: https://sustainacraft.com/ja
・About the joint procurement platform: https://sustainacraft.com/ja/ncc
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