R7: Blue Carbon
What this route does.
R7 turns coastal restoration and protection—mangroves, tidal marsh, seagrass—into verified, ex-post carbon tons that a CFO (and an auditor) can defend. We bind field and lab data into a GRO packet (non-transferable evidence), apply conservative accounting (baseline, leakage, uncertainty, permanence buffer), a verifier signs, then we issue, sell, and settle on-chain in $EDM. No evidence → no ton → no settlement
Who buys
Buyers are corporates building high-integrity portfolios that value removals/avoidance with visible co-benefits (coastal protection, fisheries, water quality). Market share is small but premium-priced: blue-carbon volumes have been volatile and remain supply-constrained, with mangrove restoration averaging ~$26/t in 2023 and project-quality ranges commonly $20–$80/t today. Issuance is still <10 Mt/yr globally, with ~19 projects issued and ~62 pending (early-2025 snapshot). Scarcity and verifier capacity keep a durable premium.
PoV in Action
Capture & Sign
You lock a monitoring plan—sediment cores (bulk density, % organic), biomass plots, elevation (rSET-MH), and remote sensing (optical + radar). Each interval mints a GRO evidence packet to your wallet with coordinates, timestamps, instrument/lab IDs, and QA. GRO is evidence, not a credit; it is later consumed and locked.
Verify
An accredited verifier reviews the same GRO dossier—tenure/FPIC, hydrology feasibility, baseline & drivers of loss, leakage, measurement uncertainty, permanence design—and signs or rejects. Weak stories are rerouted (e.g., ARR in R5) rather than stretched.
Lock the accounting
For each issuance period we publish baseline (shoreline movement, subsidence/accretion), leakage (activity-shifting; market where material), uncertainty deductions, and a permanence buffer (coastal systems typically 15–25%). Sources/versions are recorded so any restatement follows SOP—not ad-hoc edits
Issue → Sell → settle
After pass, EDMA issues tons ex-post with conservative math:
Saleable = Gross × (1 − deductions for baseline/leakage/uncertainty) × (1 − buffer).
You choose posture (forwards/floors or spot). Seller pays 2% in EDM at claim; buyer pays 2% at settlement; 50% of every fee burns (until circulating supply reaches 100 M). If your wallet lacks EDM, the call reverts cleanly (no auto-swaps). A $0.50/EDM denomination floor only computes token count due; it’s not a peg.
Outcome: monitor → verify → PoV gate → issue → sell → EDM settlement → 50% burn → immutable lineage (GRO consumed and locked). 
Market reality
Stock/flow vary by site, species, and age, but planning anchors are well-published: tidal marsh ~6–8 tCO₂e/ha/yr, global saltmarsh mean ~8.8 tCO₂e/ha/yr, mangrove accrual commonly in high single-digit tCO₂e/ha/yr, and seagrass is highly variable—local calibration is essential. Price bands today are $20–$80/t (upper half for strong governance and safeguards). EDMA shows live price cards by geography before enrollment.
Worked scenarios
Template.
Saleable t = Area_ha × Accrual_t/ha × (1 − Deductions) × (1 − Buffer); Seller net = Gross $ × 0.98 (2% seller fee in EDM).
A — Mangrove restoration, 1,000 ha (tropics).
Accrual 2.5 t/ha/yr (yrs 2+), Deductions 20%, Buffer 20% → multiplier 0.64 → 1,600 t/yr saleable.
At $40/t → $64,000 gross / $62,720 net. At $60/t → $96,000 gross / $94,080 net.
Prefund (first qtr @ $40/t) ≈ $320 (≤ 640 EDM at the $0.50 floor).
B — Saltmarsh breach & reflooding, 300 ha (temperate).
Accrual 1.8 t/ha/yr, same multiplier 0.64 → ~346 t/yr saleable.
At $30/t → ~$10.4k gross / $10.2k net; prefund ≈ $52.
C — Seagrass restoration, 200 ha.
Conservative 1.0 t/ha/yr, multiplier 0.64 → 128 t/yr saleable.
At $40/t → $5,120 gross / $5,018 net; prefund (qtr) ≈ $25.6.
Integrity by design (why buyers accept your tons)
Ex-post only. No pre-selling hypotheticals; verifier signs before issuance.
GRO = auditable MRV spine. Cores, biomass, elevation, RS and labs are time/space-bound; GRO is consumed at issuance and cannot be reused.
Conservative baselines & leakage. We quantify shoreline/subsidence trends and activity-shifting; market leakage added where material.
Permanence with teeth. 15–25% buffers, reversal monitoring, clawbacks for deliberate loss.
One-claim law. Any overlapping instrument claiming the same benefit must be retired/immobilized first; IDs are recorded on-chain; consumed evidence is non-transferable thereafter.
What you actually do (week 1 → first issuance)
Day 1: KYC + wallet (stablecoin payouts). Confirm rights/tenure & FPIC; set the monitoring plan and buffer.
Connect & monitor: GRO mints per transect/interval as evidence lands; your dashboard shows cores, lab QA, elevation, RS mosaics.
Admission prefund (EDM): min( max( 0.02 × projected 3-month gross, $20 ), $1,000 ) — on-tap top-ups; the fuel gauge ensures claims never stall.
Then: verify → issue → sell → claim. Cadence is typically annual early, semi-annual once the site stabilizes.
Fees & settlement (same canon as other routes)
EDM is gas and fee. 4% total per sale (2% seller at claim; 2% buyer at settlement), 50% of all fees burn, and the $0.50/EDM figure is a fee-denomination floor, not a market peg. If a wallet is short, the transaction reverts; we never auto-swap your payouts.
Non-negotiables
Ex-post only
One-claim law
Conservative accounting
EDM only; no auto-swap
50% burn on every fee until 100 M circulating.
Cross-links
PoV Layer (§9) — quorum, equality, one-claim, revocation
Fees/Tokenomics (§14/§18) — 4% rule, denomination floor, 50% burn
Marketplace → Tokens — listing, lineage, burn ledger.
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