They call it the Million Dollar Bird. The Seychelles magpie robin, an endangered species from the Seychelles archipelago, which organisations like Birdlife International have attempted to preserve since the 1990s, has become the world’s first digital species, a veritable frontrunner in the step towards using digital tokens for conservation. Environmental organisation Nature Seychelles, which manages the Cousin Island Special Reserve, recently launched this nature collectible in partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Swiss-based NGO Porini Foundation. A limited edition of the first 59 collectibles have been launched, each token a representation or a ‘digital twin’ of a living bird currently on Cousin Island in the Seychelles. All funds generated from the sale of these digital likenesses are being directed towards the protection of the bird. 

“Funding for long-term conservation in Seychelles and most parts of Africa,” explains Dr Nirmal Shah, CEO of Nature Seychelles, “depends heavily on wildlife tourism or ecotourism. The COVID-19 pandemic crushed tourism and hollowed out our funding mechanisms. Since the Seychelles economy itself is so heavily dependent on tourism, the government and the private sector couldn’t help because everyone was in the same boat. We needed to innovate and go out on a limb.”