Sometimes, you are lucky enough to work on something that you are passionate about, something that serves a grander purpose than simply the monetary gain you or someone else stands to make from it.

What I have been lucky enough to work on the past few months is something that fuses my love of technology with conservation efforts towards the rainforest. This is something that needs to be discussed and thought about on a wider scale, and efforts like last year’s COP26 and other efforts brought some attention towards the issues to the public eye — but working to conserve our planet’s most valuable natural resources are efforts that go hand-in-hand with work to combat climate change, and it is a cause I have always held close, coming from a part of the US that values nature.

With all of this in mind, it is finally time to unveil something that I have been working in tandem with a group of very brilliant people in bringing to market, something that I hope a huge community fosters around in order to not only play with an exciting new evolution in technology, but also something that actively works to foster care and commitment to conserving the world’s rainforests.

It’s called The Aeternals, and I’m excited to not only have been a part of it, but to be able to be able to talk about it with you here today. For you to fully grasp how this project works, you also need to be sure that you are up to speed on NFTs and a great organization known as Rainforest Partnership.

First things first — let’s make sure you’re all up to speed on just what an “NFT” is and how it works — without this crucial tech, this entire project would not properly function in its intended state.

Anyone familiar with the cryptocurrency space might be familiar with the term “NFT,” but if you’re not privy to it, it’s a new way of verifying ownership of a digital asset, blocked by cryptography and a hot technology called the blockchain.

If these are new terms to you, don’t let them scare you off — a blockchain is simply a kind of database that is shared around the world, and it stores data in a way that can’t be tampered with. Cryptography, in computing terms, is the methodology in which digital information can be stored securely.

“NFT” is just a short way of saying Non-Fungible Token. This is some kind of a digital asset — such as a piece of art, a sound file, a video, or something else that is represented by metadata. Ownership of these digital tokens can be proven using the blockchain, and NFTs can be minted on different blockchains, the most popular currently being Ethereum and Solana. NFTs can represent all kinds of different things — ownership of a piece of digital art, a concert ticket, or even an asset in a video game.

Simple enough, right? Now let’s get into what I’ve been involved with lately, a fun and exciting new leap in interactive NFTs known as The Aeternals.

So, that project I mentioned a bit ago? Now that you’re up to speed on the basics on the how the tech works, it’s time to let you in on the surprise so you can also get excited about participating if it sounds like something that you would enjoy!

The Aeternals is the culmination of months of hard work from a team of distributed digital artists, blockchain developers, game developers, and conservation partners in an effort to bring awareness to the growing need of rainforest conservation, in tandem with the Rainforest Partnership. The Rainforest Partnership has been working hard for a number of years to bring boots-on-the-ground efforts to doing their part to protect rainforests around the world.

Imagine a game environment where you can look around and interact with a serene plot of land. This plot of land is not inherently yours, but you are its guardian, helping oversee and protect this spot. Thousands of others just like you are doing the same thing, guarding their little piece of the rainforest, helping to keep it healthy and watching it thrive. Sounds fun and simple enough, right?

Now imagine your plot of land actively evolving the more you take care of it. This is exactly what will be possible when you take part in The Aeternals — our creative and gamification teams have worked incredibly hard to create a world that not only responds to the things you do in-game, but also evolves as you continue to help it thrive.

This is a huge thing for many reasons. First, it creates an exciting and simple way for people to get involved with new technology and conservation efforts at the same time. Plus, it represents something unique in the world of NFTs: a state of evolution. Normally, an NFT is something you can look at and enjoy, but not necessarily something you can interact with and help evolve over time. This is the first step into the world of what we are referring to as multi-dimensional NFTs, or, NFTs that are able to go into certain states based on certain conditions being met.

In the beautiful land of The Aeternals, it will be simple enough. Once you have your NFT, you will be able to log into your plot of land, interact with it, take good care of it, and watch it evolve and change in state over time. When you get into the higher states, you might even end up having a chance of winning some kind of prize — so make sure you stay tuned to see what kind of possibilities might be happening on that front.

Since all of this is happening in tandem with Rainforest Partnership, participants can be assured that their investments into this world are actually going to fund the conservation efforts — and how many projects can say that?

One of the biggest goals of The Aeternals is to grow a community around the notion of rainforest conservation. It stays interesting and engaging because of the gamification and social elements. Not only will you be able to interact with your own plot of land, but you will also be able to get in touch with other players through our Discord channel, and see what we are doing through our Twitter and Medium updates. One huge goal of this project is to foster a community who cares for and engages with the cause that we are working to help, and this project is going to be a huge way to get people who care about this kind of thing together, not only to have fun, but to feel a sense of accomplishment, and there is nothing more rewarding than the feeling of knowing you are doing something great to help the planet.

Keep your eyes peeled for more news on The Aeternals — we will be announcing it live at the North American Bitcoin conference this January, and news will continue to be updated about the project through the official social channels and the website.

If this is something that you would like to participate in an effort to do to your part to help the rainforest conservation work that Rainforest Partnership is doing, along with learn about fun and exciting new technologies along the way, then you are going to absolutely love the world of The Aeternals.

Follow our teams Twitter for the latest updates along with sneak peak photos of the assets here: https://twitter.com/theaeternals or check out the website at https://aeternals.io