Polish Hotel Buys New Zealand Biodiversity Credits in Cross-Border Deal
Traditionally, there is little overlap between a Polish hotel in the country’s second-largest city and a New Zealand nature and wildlife reserve. Nevertheless, earlier this month, Hotel Stradonia in Kraków and Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari were linked through an international biodiversity credit transaction, underscoring how emerging nature markets are starting to connect corporate buyers with conservation projects across borders.
Stradonia purchased biodiversity credits from New Zealand-based registry Ekos, which generated the credits with Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari, OPIS reported on May 14.
The transaction was sparked by a personal story. “One member of our team travelled to New Zealand and was deeply impressed by its nature and by the care given to protecting it and especially wild birds,” Stradonia marketing manager Karolina Jakubiczka-Costanzo told OPIS. “We wanted, in our own small way, to contribute to supporting and preserving that kind of effort,” she continued.
The transaction totaled 91.0 biodiversity credits, generated through Ekos’s BioCredita program with Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari, a fenced native forest sanctuary protected from invasive predators. The project is featured in the Biodiversity Market Report.
“For us, climate responsibility should not be understood only through the lens of CO₂, but also through care for ecosystems, species protection, and the environmental balance on which long-term resilience depends,” Jakubiczka-Costanzo said.
According to Ekos chief executive Sean Weaver, “The deal marks an important milestone in the maturation of New Zealand’s biodiversity markets, noting that international trades only occur where credits demonstrate high integrity.”
The transaction was completed in February, but Ekos announced it on May 11, as the New Zealand government unveiled plans to support the country’s voluntary nature and carbon markets through a new accreditation pathway.
When choosing a project developer, Jakubiczka-Costanzo said, “the key criteria included a clear biodiversity focus, real and measurable environmental impact, and a structure based on verified outcomes.”
Ekos’s BioCredita program is underpinned by a blockchain-based digital registry developed by Ekos and Danish technology company Trusticate. Weaver said issues like double counting and double selling can be prevented by robust and transparent registry systems.
Beyond biodiversity credits, Stradonia takes wider sustainability measures, including measuring its carbon footprint, monitoring its water footprint and water flow, and using green electricity sourced entirely from renewable energy, according to Jakubiczka-Costanzo.
“Our goal is to remain engaged in meaningful, high-quality projects that help protect ecosystems and reinforce the broader environmental balance that sustainable hospitality depends on,” she said.
–Reporting by Nia Simeonova, nsimeonova@opisnet.com; Editing by Humberto J. Rocha, hrocha@opisnet.com