how to build a regional resilience plan with ensurance

A regional resilience plan is a coordinated strategy that unifies conservation priorities, natural assets, and funding sources into a single investable framework. Instead of competing for grants property by property, your collaborative creates shared infrastructure for perpetual landscape-scale funding.

This guide shows watershed councils, land trusts, and landscape partnerships how to structure a regional resilience plan using ensurance agents, coins, and certificates.

why traditional approaches fail at landscape scale

Most conservation funding operates at the wrong scale. Grants fund individual projects. Easements protect individual parcels. Restoration programs run in 3-year cycles. Meanwhile, water flows across 40 ownerships, fire moves through 200,000 acres in a week, and wildlife corridors span 300 miles.

The fundamental mismatch: ecological processes operate at landscape scale, but governance and funding structures are fragmented by ownership boundaries.

This creates the sustainability gap that haunts every regional collaborative. You can secure restoration funding, but not stewardship funding. You can protect individual parcels, but not the connections between them.

how ensurance solves the scale mismatch

Ensurance restructures conservation finance around place rather than ownership. Instead of funding flowing to individual landowners who happen to apply for grants, funding flows to the landscape itself through agents that represent places, natural assets, and purposes.

the agent architecture

Bioregion & Ecoregion Agents These agents represent large-scale ecological regions. Bioregions are defined by watersheds, landforms, and cultural boundaries. Ecoregions are defined by shared ecological characteristics.

Examples: cascades-mountain-forests-valleys.bioregion, southeast-savannas-riparian-forests.bioregion, fynbos-shrubland.ecoregion, nullarbor-plains-xeric-shrublands.ecoregion

Basin Agents Basin agents represent specific watersheds and their drainage networks.

Examples: colorado-river.basin, roaring-fork-river.basin, yampa-river.basin

Purpose Agents Purpose agents represent ecosystem services that natural assets provide. They connect physical places to the value they generate.

Examples: climate-stability.ensurance, habitat.ensurance, risk-resilience.ensurance, boreal-forests.ensurance

Natural Asset Agents A natural asset is a legally defined real asset or ecological polygon whose ecological stocks and flows can be measured, valued, and ensured. Each natural asset can have an agent with its own wallet, capable of receiving and deploying funds for its protection and stewardship.

Examples: 0005.natural-asset, coffman-ranch.avlt, marble-wetlands-preserve.avlt

Syndicate Agents Syndicates are coordinated groups of agents working toward shared outcomes. They pool resources, coordinate action, and attract institutional capital.

Examples: upper-animas-mining-restoration.syndicate, colorado-headwaters-protection.syndicate, urban-heat.syndicate

This layered structure means a single trade can fund an entire bioregion (via bioregion agent), specific natural assets within it (via natural asset agents), and the ecosystem services they provide (via purpose agents).

step 1: map your regional identity

Before creating any instruments, define what makes your region distinct. This goes beyond physical geography to include cultural meaning, indigenous heritage, and local ways of relating to the land.

physical dimensions

Identify the ecological features that define your landscape:

• Watersheds: Where does water flow? What are the major tributaries?
• Ecosystem types: What are the dominant habitats? Forests, wetlands, grasslands?
• Keystone species: What wildlife depends on landscape connectivity?
• Critical infrastructure: Which natural assets provide measurable services to downstream communities?

cultural dimensions

A regional resilience plan that ignores culture will fail to build the community ownership needed for long-term success.

• Indigenous nations: Whose ancestral lands does your region include? What are their place names and stewardship traditions?
• Agricultural heritage: What working lands practices have shaped the landscape?
• Recreation and access: What is the cultural relationship between people and place?
• Local identity: What do residents call this place? What stories define it?

Regional instruments should feel like they belong to the place. A coin for the Cascades should carry different cultural weight than one for the Fynbos. The name, imagery, and framing should resonate with people who live there.

step 2: create your place agent

Your place agent is the anchor of your regional resilience plan. It represents the landscape as a whole and serves as the primary recipient for regional funding.

choosing your agent type

Select the agent type that best matches your region's identity:

configuring the agent

Every agent has three core attributes:

For a place agent, the purpose is regional coordination, the mandate is landscape-scale protection and restoration, and the place is your region's geographic boundary.

linking to natural assets

Your place agent should be connected to the natural assets in your region. Proceeds are the connective tissue that routes perpetual funding between agents. Trading activity on regional instruments generates proceeds that flow to the place agent, which then routes value to natural asset agents within its boundary.

step 3: register natural asset agents

A natural asset is a legally defined real asset or ecological polygon whose ecological stocks and flows can be measured, valued, and ensured. Each natural asset in your region can have an agent with its own wallet.

what qualifies as a natural asset?

Any discrete natural asset that:

• Has defined legal or ecological boundaries
• Provides measurable ecosystem services (stocks and flows)
• Would benefit from dedicated funding
• Has stewardship needs beyond current funding

Examples:

• A specific wetland preserve (marble-wetlands-preserve.avlt)
• A working ranch with conservation values (coffman-ranch.avlt)
• An ecological polygon with measured stocks and flows (0005.natural-asset)
• A headwaters protection area
• A wildlife corridor segment

creating the agent hierarchy

Structure your agents in a logical hierarchy:

cascades-mountain-forests-valleys.bioregion (the region)
  > colorado-river.basin (major watershed)
    > marble-wetlands-preserve.avlt (specific preserve)
    > coffman-ranch.avlt (working lands)
  > colorado-headwaters-protection.syndicate (coordinated initiative)
  > climate-stability.ensurance (purpose/service)

This hierarchy enables flexible funding. A donor interested in the whole region funds the bioregion agent. A donor interested in a specific preserve funds that natural asset agent. All levels can receive value simultaneously through proceeds routing.

step 4: design your regional coins

Regional coins are custom ensurance coins that represent your landscape. Trading activity on these coins generates perpetual funding for your agents.

anatomy of a regional coin

When you mint an ensurance coin:

• 10M tokens (1%) go to your designated agents
• 990M tokens (99%) go to a liquidity pool for open trading
• All trading generates a 1% fee that flows as proceeds
• No insiders, no pre-sales, no airdrops

naming with cultural weight

Your coin symbol and name should carry regional meaning. Consider:

proceeds routing

Proceeds connect agents and provide perpetual funding. Configure your coin's proceeds to flow according to your regional priorities:

• Primary recipient: Your place agent (bioregion, ecoregion, or basin)
• Secondary routing: Place agent distributes to natural asset agents based on stewardship priorities
• Transparent allocation: All flows are onchain and auditable

A regional coin creates a market for your landscape. Every trade is a signal of value. As trading activity grows, perpetual funding flows to your agents without requiring new grant applications.

step 5: issue certificates for priority assets

While coins fund the region broadly, certificates provide direct funding to specific natural assets. When someone purchases a certificate, they get a tradable, yield-bearing instrument rather than a donation receipt.

certificates vs donations

certificate structure

Each certificate is tied to a specific natural asset:

cultural certificates

Consider issuing certificates that acknowledge cultural as well as ecological value:

• Certificates for indigenous sacred sites (with appropriate community partnership)
• Certificates for heritage landscapes with agricultural or historical significance
• Certificates for places with deep recreational or spiritual meaning

These expand your base beyond ecological funders to cultural institutions, heritage organizations, and diaspora communities.

step 6: build your syndicate

A syndicate is a coordinated group of agents working toward shared outcomes. For a regional resilience plan, your syndicate might include:

• Your place agent (bioregion, ecoregion, or basin)
• Natural asset agents (specific properties)
• Purpose agents (ecosystem services)
• Partner agents (aligned organizations)

Examples of active syndicates:

• colorado-headwaters-protection.syndicate — coordinating headwaters conservation
• upper-animas-mining-restoration.syndicate — addressing legacy mining impacts
• urban-heat.syndicate — funding urban cooling infrastructure

syndicate benefits

governance

Agents can be controlled by:

• Sole operator: A single authorized address makes all decisions
• Multi-sig group: Multiple signers must approve actions (e.g., 3 of 5 board members)
• Automated rules: Pre-set rules execute based on triggers
• Autonomous AI: AI agents execute within defined mandates

Most regional collaboratives start with multi-sig governance and evolve toward automation as trust builds.

the complete regional resilience architecture

Putting it all together, your regional resilience plan looks like this:

             $CASCADES, $FYNBOS (regional coins)
                          |
              [trading generates proceeds]
                          |
    cascades-mountain-forests-valleys.bioregion
              /           |           \
  marble-wetlands    coffman-ranch    colorado-headwaters
    .preserve.avlt      .avlt         -protection.syndicate
         |                |                 |
   [certificates]   [certificates]    [coordinated action]

Value flows:

1. Someone buys or sells a regional coin
2. Trading fees are collected automatically
3. Proceeds flow to the bioregion/ecoregion agent
4. Place agent routes value to natural asset agents
5. Each agent deploys funds according to its mandate

Instruments:

• Coins: Broad regional support through trading activity
• Certificates: Direct funding for specific natural assets (tradable, yield-bearing)
• Agents: Entities that receive and deploy funds on behalf of places, purposes, and natural assets
• Proceeds: Perpetual funding that connects agents across the system

frequently asked questions

how is this different from a conservation fund?

Traditional conservation funds require ongoing fundraising. Ensurance creates perpetual funding through market activity. Once your coin has liquidity, every trade generates proceeds without requiring new donations.

who controls the agents?

You do. Agents can be configured with a sole operator (single address) or a multi-sig group (multiple signers required). Most regional collaboratives use multi-sig governance with key stakeholders as signers.

is this model designed for landowner payments?

The ensurance model can work with willing landowners, but it's primarily designed to purchase natural assets (on-market and off-market properties), ensure them through coins and certificates, and ultimately place them in entrust for permanent protection. The focus is on acquiring and protecting natural assets at landscape scale, not paying landowners to continue existing practices.

how do we handle indigenous sovereignty?

Indigenous nations should be partners, not subjects, of regional resilience plans. This means co-designing the agent structure, sharing governance (often via multi-sig), and ensuring proceeds flow to tribal stewardship priorities. Cultural instruments should only be created with explicit community consent.

what's the minimum viable regional plan?

1. One place agent (bioregion, ecoregion, or basin)
2. One regional coin (with proceeds flowing to your agent)
3. Liquidity to enable trading

You can add natural asset agents, certificates, and syndicate structure over time.

next steps

Explore the instruments: See how agents, coins, and certificates work in practice.

See regional examples: Review existing bioregion and ecoregion agents and how they structure regional funding.

Start the conversation: Talk to someone who can help design your regional resilience plan.

Landscape-scale conservation requires landscape-scale funding. Ensurance gives regional collaboratives the infrastructure to match their vision.