• Sylvera will create high-resolution, open-access carbon data across Brazil’s Atlantic Forest to strengthen carbon measurement and verification.
• The project aims to reduce participation costs for smallholders and community-led projects while improving investor and corporate buyer confidence.
• The dataset will be released under a CC BY 4.0 license and hosted by World Resources Institute, giving developers, registries and policymakers free access.

Sylvera has launched an open-data initiative designed to strengthen carbon market investment across Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. The project will generate high-resolution forest carbon data for one of the world’s most complex and threatened ecosystems.

The Open Carbon Data Project is supported by The Rockefeller Foundation, Meta, World Resources Institute, Symbiosis Coalition and Brazilian research institutions.

Its central objective is to improve the quality and availability of forest carbon data. Better data could strengthen measurement, reporting and verification, or MRV, while lowering the cost of participating in carbon markets.

For investors and corporate buyers, the project addresses a persistent market weakness. Nature-based carbon projects depend heavily on accurate estimates of forest carbon stocks. Weak or inconsistent datasets can increase uncertainty and make projects harder to finance.

Building the data behind carbon markets

Sylvera will combine field measurements with remote sensing to create a detailed picture of biomass and carbon stocks across the Atlantic Forest.

“Carbon markets cannot scale without trust, and trust starts with ground truth data. Through our work combining field measurements and advanced remote sensing, we’re helping build the biomass data foundation that more accurate, transparent, and scalable carbon markets depend on,” said Allister Furey, CEO, Sylvera.

The project will also support the development of digital MRV systems. These systems can reduce the cost of monitoring projects and make verification easier to scale.

However, digital systems still depend on reliable field data. Satellite models need accurate ground measurements for calibration and validation.

The new dataset is intended to provide that foundation.

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Lowering barriers to nature finance

The initiative could have particular relevance for smaller forest projects. Smallholders and community-led developers often face higher relative costs when entering carbon markets.

Improved open-access data could reduce those costs while giving investors greater confidence in project-level carbon claims.

“High-quality, accessible data is critical infrastructure for scaling nature-based climate finance and ensuring it delivers real benefits to communities on the ground,” said Carli Roth, Director of Innovative Finance at The Rockefeller Foundation. “This initiative shows how open, more accurate data can unlock investment, building investor and buyer confidence while helping local stakeholders accelerate equitable access to capital for underserved communities that depend on healthy forests for their lives and livelihoods.”

Nature-based climate solutions are attracting capital from companies seeking credible carbon removal and conservation projects. Yet concerns about methodology, additionality and measurement continue to shape buyer decisions.

Open scientific datasets could help registries, developers and investors test project assumptions more consistently.

Brazilian institutions anchor the research

Sylvera said local participation will remain central to the project. Brazilian universities, research institutions, government agencies, landowners and implementation partners will contribute to the work.

Prof Deborah Faria, Permanent faculty member of the DCB and coordinator of the Laboratory of Ecology Applied to Conservation (LEAC), UESC, said: “The Open Carbon Data Project initiative strengthens global knowledge regarding forests and the carbon cycle. In Bahia, the project will enable more accurate estimates of carbon stocks in Atlantic Forest remnants and cocoa agroforestry systems, generating benefits for rural producers. By bringing together scientists, communities, and landowners, the initiative produces knowledge aligned with local realities and contributes to the region’s sustainable development.”

The approach is intended to build scientific capacity inside the region rather than rely solely on externally developed models.

Open access expands global use

The dataset will be released later this year under a CC BY 4.0 open license. World Resources Institute will host the data.

That structure will allow researchers, carbon registries, developers and policymakers to use and build on the information globally.

“Scaling credible carbon markets requires the same foundation as any good science: open, high-quality data that anyone can build on. We’ve seen firsthand through our AI-powered forest mapping work with WRI how open-source tools can dramatically improve our understanding of forest ecosystems. This initiative will help lower barriers for new and community-led projects to begin receiving carbon financing, and ultimately build the trust that carbon markets need to attract investment at scale,” said Blair Swedeen, Global Head of Net Zero and Sustainability, Meta.

For carbon market participants, the wider significance lies in market infrastructure. Better data can reduce uncertainty, strengthen verification and make smaller projects more investable.

If the Atlantic Forest initiative succeeds, its open-data model could also inform carbon measurement in other complex ecosystems. That would give investors, regulators and project developers a stronger common basis for directing capital toward credible forest protection and restoration.