Doing the Mahi with digital tokens for nature: East Coast Exchange hits first funding milestone

An innovative online trading platform is tapping into the East Coast community to help tackle recovery and regenerative mahi across the region. 

The East Coast Exchange (ECX) brings together investors with people keen to do the work — from native planting to pest control. 

The scheme was launched after Cyclone Gabrielle as a way to cut out the middleman amid a shortage of funds for recovery work. 

People can earn “action points” on the Exchange and swap them for funding. The free online system helps in a range of activities. The ECX has reached its first local funding milestone for its new pilot called Mahi, a digital token which represents units of funded work in service to nature. 

It is moving to a collective ownership model that includes Te Runanganui o Ngāti Porou and Gisborne District Council, which each gave $100,000 towards the $1million goal. 

It will help two projects on the East Coast:  Te Kautuku, a whenua Māori land block (Rangitukia, Tairāwhiti); and Kōtare Station, a family-run sheep and beef farm (Matawai, Gisborne). 

ECX establishment director and Toha Network Tairāwhiti lead Renee Raroa said Toha had been working on the digital infrastructure technology before Cyclone Gabrielle. 

“But when the cyclone hit ... it accelerated bringing the offering forward into the community.” 

After its launch, it received funding from the Red Cross, philanthropists and those wanting to support volunteers helping in the cyclone response. 

ECX verified a community group’s work and then translated it into mapped data, turning people’s actions into “contribution points (CP)”. 

Financial backers could then fund these initiatives, quantified at $1 for every CP. 

Since its inception in February 2023, there have been 3,518,308 CP recorded and $317,818 distributed to contributors. 

When the Government cut funding for the Jobs for Nature programme, those projects faced going backwards without the people doing the work. 

“It only takes a couple of cows to get in, or a few months of no management, and those projects can be set back five years within a month,” Raroa said. 

“So what we’re trying to do is say ‘hey, how can we help to be a bridge in that space?”’ 

The system aims to bring in co-investment so nature work isn’t solely reliant on Government funding. 

Corporates, investors and philanthropists can fund alongside the Government, which will give the work more resilience towards Government change and policy shifts. 

Raroa says ECX distribute the funds so people can swap their points for funding. 

The next phase of Mahi is raising substantial funds for pilots and then those land blocks and farms will have the funding up front to carry out activities and capture data. 

“Like so many other Māori land blocks, which were converted to sheep and beef farming, that land has never been super profitable and has kind of eroded away. 

“So it made sense for the trustees and the land manager to say ‘hey, we want to try something that’s in alignment with our roles as kaitiaki to look after the land’, which is what our project is about ... and if we can also say ‘hey, this can bring a comparable financial return’, then it’s a no-brainer. And that’s the piece that we want the pilot to prove.” 

When people buy Mahi tokens, they can use their credits to access valuable data, which can help enhance their business’ environmental story. 

“Corporations are willing to pay for access and reuse of those data assets.” 

An example of this is a planting project at Te Kautuku, where the company New Zealand Native Honey bought  mānuka trees and other natives. 

The project collects data, such as how many natives were planted, where they were planted, and photos and videos. 

New Zealand Native Honey can then purchase the data using the credits they got in exchange for the funding. 

Raroa said it worked in the funder’s interest. In this case, they can access honey bought from the station (because they’re a honey distributor) and get into certain markets internationally if they can prove their story. It is also an easy way to satisfy B-Co-operation certification requirements. 

“So they’ll essentially put a QR code on the side of their product that shows that story.  

“And that gets them the premium price.” 

From that supply chain perspective, people might want to buy access to the data, she said. 

Raroa said there was also scope for the Toha token to be used as a form of cryptocurrency, which the team were investigating. 

She said the East Coast Exchange Mahi project was an example of how the Toha system could work and be adjusted for other regions across New Zealand and abroad. 

Gisborne District Council chief executive Nedine Thatcher Swann said the region’s Three Year Plan had to balance significant costs in infrastructure recovery with the ability of the community to pay. 

The council’s vision is focused on healthy water, land and people while investing in native restoration, freshwater and biodiversity projects, along with sustainable investments. 

“This challenge extends beyond the council to iwi/hapū, landowners and community groups engaged in their environmental efforts,” Thatcher Swann said. 

“The ECX transforms these environmental challenges into opportunities by leveraging investment funds and data from a network of contributors that support vital projects.” 

This includes nature regeneration, wetland restoration and pest management. 

Thatcher Swann said the ECX would drive job creation and skills development with measurable impacts on biodiversity, climate resilience and community well-being.