[IMPACT]

The Solution we offer using smart contracts is Black Rhino. A way for everyday users to democratically support endangered species and climate conservation efforts using tools in blockchain. Our goal is to build a decentralized platform to provide opportunities in emerging markets for organizations, while providing users a rewarding and engaging experience.

DeFi applications provide a lot of value for users in other blockchain ecosystems. We want to be the first one that gives back. For our first protocol, we will be developing a Raffle Pool. Users will be able to enter the pool to win part of the stake each week. Part of the proceeds and fees from each pool will go directly to support one of our non-profit partner organizations. This will be accomplished by building a DeFi Staking Pool on top of a third party staking service, such as Adax or Ergo. Part of the yield generated will be randomly selected and sent to one of the stakers via smart contract. The rest of the yield will be split between our non-profit organizational partners and the project treasury. This will work similar to a raffle. Eventually, the protocol will be governed by users who are staked in the pool. This way users will be able to choose which organizations will be supported each week. Users who participate, but do not win, will also be eligible to receive NFT rewards.

Each transaction on the Pool will be certified as carbon-neutral, and eventually carbon-negative, through our partners such as Nori, Aerial, Moss, and more TBA.

For future projects we plan to build on the success of this first protocol and continue to grow Black Rhino with an NFT platform, Global staking protocols, A portal enabling fundraising in cryptocurrency and NFTs, as well as a native token which will power our ecosystem.

This first protocol is in parallel with our collaborative projects we are currently working on with our partner organizations. We have currently partnered with three endangered species and climate conservation organizations to explore opportunities in blockchain including NFT related projects, which we have proposed here: https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/403182

For everyday cryptocurrency users, as well as those interested in the space, important issues like energy consumption are becoming more relevant everyday. Finding ways to consistently deal with these issues in efficient ways are a constant challenge. Cardano is considered an industry leader for energy efficient solutions in this space, and therefore should have DApps that lead the way as well.

Besides being functional, DeFi applications need to be fun, interesting, easy to use, and rewarding for users in order to attract users. Black Rhino will provide an enjoyable and rewarding experience for users by building a an easy-to-use protocol which will enable users to give back as well as earn rewards for participating. The goal is to attract users and promote DeFi on Cardano.

Utilizing the Cardano chain we aim to a build a solution which will enable users to interact with everyday tools in DeFi and support non-profit organizations. This will provide the Cardano ecosystem with a DeFi application which gives back, offsets energy consumption and provides value to everyday users.

The main challenge our project faces is sustainability, and overcoming the perception of the blockchain industry amongst the conservation community. Maintaining an eco-friendly and carbon-neutral experience on our platform, and with our NFT related projects, is crucial. The blockchain industry is heavily criticized for its impact on the environment and we are aiming to change this narrative. We will overcome this challenge by building and operating on Cardano, which aligns with our sustainability goals. We will also work with carbon removal and climate conservation organizations such as Pleistocene Park, Cardano4Climate, and Moss, every step of the way which will allow us to measure our carbon output, and ensure our platform is Carbon-Negative.

[FEASIBILITY]

April + May 2022:

- Build Launch Team (8-12 people).

- Establish Partnerships with Two additional Endangered Species Conservation Organizations.

- Launch Social Media Communities. Successfully Establish an Online Community of 10k+.

- Complete Designs/Architecture for Application Pool Platform.

- Launch one NFT project in collaboration with a Black Rhino non-profit partner.

June + July 2022:

- Successfully Launch Black Rhino Pool Protocol TestNet.

- Secure $50,000 in TVL

- Additional Partnerships (Secure 2-3 Additional Partnerships)

- Launch 2-3 NFT projects in collaboration with a Black Rhino partners

- Successfully Establish an Online Community of 25k+

- Successfully Raise $25k+ for Endangered Species Conservation Organizations

August + Beyond:

- Successfully Launch Black Rhino Pool Platform to Cardano Mainnet

- Secure $100,000 in TVL

- Successfully Establish an Online Community of 50k+

- Successfully Raise $50k+ for Endangered Species Conservation Organizations

- Begin Design + Architecture Phase for Black Rhino Fundraising Portals and NFT platform.

Development Resources (Hosting and software): This portion of funding is allocated for hosting software resources, including third-party applications to develop the product.

= $15,000

Project Treasury: Start providing a steady source of revenue for our treasury by allocating funds in stable and secure protocols to generate yield on Cardano.

= $50,000

DeFi Product Development: This portion of funding is allocated strictly for Product Development, including research, development, implementation of software, and hiring contractors or auditors.

= $30,000

= Total 95,000 (100%)

The team will be self-funded. All grant money received will go towards the project development, and the project treasury to grow the protocol.

Brandon — Business Development: Marketing Communications Graduate, 6+ years of working in marketing/business development, 2+ years of working in the blockchain space. <u>(https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-samuel-87a59210a/)&lt;/u>

Kale — Business Operations: 8+ years of management experience in retail businesses, 3+ years of experience in Marketing. <u>(https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaloyan-pavlov-georgiev-114970160/)&lt;/u>

Nik — Engineering: Computer Science Graduate, 2+ years of experience working in the technology sector as a software developer, 1+ year of experience working in the blockchain space.

Todor — Technology: Computer Science Graduate, 2+ years of experience working in the technology sector as a software developer, 1 year of experience working in the blockchain space. <u>(https://www.linkedin.com/in/todor-voynikov/)&lt;/u>

Joao — Product: Economics Graduate: 5+ years of experience working in the financial technology industry, 2+ years working as a product manager in the DeFi industry. <u>(https://www.linkedin.com/in/jo%C3%A3o-forte-carvalho-374b811b/)&lt;/u>

Tyler — Research: 8+ years of experience working in the conservation as a volunteer and consultant at sanctuaries, zoo’s and conservation parks.

Yoana — Branding: Graphic Design Student, 2+ years of experience working in the graphic design, branding and marketing field.

Steven Seet — Advisor: Head of Science Communication @ BioRescue & Keep Nature Alive

Jose Etcheverry (Professor) — Advisor: Co-Chair & Director @ Sustainable Energy Initiative International Renewable Energy Academy

[AUDITABILITY]

Our KPI's for will be measured on a monthly basis and will include: Total Value Locked (Total value or funds locked into pools), Total # of active users, Prize pool size, and Total # of contributions supplied. Our measure of success will be based on how much we are able to contribute in funding to our partner organizations from this pool. Working with non-profit conservation organizations, we will also be able to measure our impact on the ground through monthly, quarterly and annual reports tracking statics related to climate conservation, habitat health and endangered species conservation.

Key Metrics (Measured on a Monthly basis):

- Number of Conservation Organizations supported in Q4 2022 & Beyond

- Local Impact (measurable monthly through user activity and data from partners)

- Number of Partnerships Formed with Local Communities & Organizations

- Endangered Species Populations (Monthly)

- Climate Impact & Emissions Report on Quality of Habitats (Monthly)

Success for this project looks like having a large engaged community online, a fully functioning protocol within our platform, multiple successful project launches in collaboration with our non-profit partners, and consistently being able to generate and provide significant funding each month to non-profit endangered species and climate conservation organizations around the world. As well, we want to be able to measure and record real-world impact from our work. Success for us is being able to significantly impact endangered species conservation efforts, climate conservation efforts, and species and ecosystem protection. Within 2-3 years, we would like to have significantly contributed to an increase in endangered species populations around the world, as well as protected habitat ecosystems, reduced poaching, carbon emissions, and a decline in threats to endangered species.

N/A

SDG Rating

SDG goals:

Goal 13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

Goal 15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

Goal 17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development

SDG subgoals:

13.3 Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning

13.b Promote mechanisms for raising capacity for effective climate change-related planning and management in least developed countries and small island developing States, including focusing on women, youth and local and marginalized communities

15.5 Take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of biodiversity and, by 2020, protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species

15.7 Take urgent action to end poaching and trafficking of protected species of flora and fauna and address both demand and supply of illegal wildlife products

15.8 By 2030, introduce measures to prevent the introduction and significantly reduce the impact of invasive alien species on land and water ecosystems and control or eradicate the priority species

15.a Mobilize and significantly increase financial resources from all sources to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity and ecosystems

15.b Mobilize significant resources from all sources and at all levels to finance sustainable forest management and provide adequate incentives to developing countries to advance such management, including for conservation and reforestation

15.c Enhance global support for efforts to combat poaching and trafficking of protected species, including by increasing the capacity of local communities to pursue sustainable livelihood opportunities

Key Performance Indicator (KPI):

15.c.1 Proportion of traded wildlife that was poached or illicitly trafficked

15.b.1 (a) Official development assistance on conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity; and (b) revenue generated and finance mobilized from biodiversity-relevant economic instruments

15.8.1 Proportion of countries adopting relevant national legislation and adequately resourcing the prevention or control of invasive alien species