Climate Curve

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Project Summary / Description:

Rai Matak strengthens the resilience of rural economies to poverty and environmental degradation, operating as a highly scalable social enterprise that delivers both economic and environmental benefits.

Rai Matak builds on more than a decade of foundational work by Ho Musan Ida (WithOneSeed) in Baguia and on the EU-funded expansion (2020–2024) into four additional project areas. It now forms part of a national reforestation strategy with active collaboration and oversight of the Government of Timor-Leste. 

Certified under the Gold Standard for the Global Goals, the program operates under a 50-year crediting vision, with a national Program of Activities expanding to 15 new project areas following the successful implementation of the first five under Phase 2.

Now entering Phase 3: National Expansion, Rai Matak aims to:
Engage 20,000 smallholder farmers,
Plant over 10 million trees, and
Sequester up to 25 million tonnes of carbon by 2060.

The program will generate long-term revenue through the sale of certified carbon credits and tree-planting claims, providing a self-sustaining model for climate action and community development.
Objectives

Through its expansion, Rai Matak seeks to achieve the following:
Empower Local Timorese Communities: Place Timorese people and businesses at the forefront of program design, benefit-sharing, and carbon revenue flows, supporting social and economic self-determination.
Build Village-Based Sustainable Economies: Create and demonstrate new investment models that transfer wealth to rural areas and enable long-term prosperity. 
Expand Access to Knowledge, Networks, and Resources: Drive skills development in agroforestry, conservation, and sustainable enterprise industries.
Create Enabling Conditions for Systemic Change: Work collaboratively with the Government of Timor-Leste, certification bodies, and civil society to foster policies and markets that support sustainable and scalable solutions.

How Project Affects Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions:

['Removes/stores GHGs (e.g., projects that capture, sequester, or otherwise enhance the "sinks" that accumulate and store GHGs)']

Impact on Underrepresented Groups:

Our project empowers groups traditionally underrepresented in the climate movement—especially rural communities on the frontlines of climate vulnerability. Rai Matak works in remote, low-income municipalities where smallholder farmers have long been excluded from climate finance. By paying farmers annual income for every surviving tree they manage, we directly reward the climate stewardship of those who contribute least to global emissions yet bear the greatest climate risks.

Women’s leadership is central. They play a lead roles as community facilitators, field monitors, school partners and members of village committees. We intentionally design training and income opportunities that are accessible to women, including supporting women-led enterprises, agroforestry groups and community decision-making structures.

Youth are also key actors, contributing as field monitors, data collectors, biodiversity surveyors and TreeO2 operators—roles that build long-term employment pathways in ecology, GIS, and community forestry.

The program itself is Timorese owned and led, with Foundation Rai Matak guiding strategy and governance. xpand Foundation provides technical and operational support while intentionally transferring skills, leadership and decision-making authority to Timorese partners.

By centering local leadership, equitable income, and community-driven governance, Rai Matak strengthens the role of those most affected by climate change as designers, implementers and long-term stewards of climate solutions.