> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://forforest.gitbook.io/for/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://forforest.gitbook.io/for/for-en/technology/4.2-why-blockchain.md).

# 4.2 Why blockchain?

#### Building the mechanisms of “regeneration” that only blockchain can make possible

FoR adopts blockchain not because it is merely a trend. Nor is it for speculative purposes. Rather, it is because blockchain can institutionalize the “peace of mind” and “sense of reality” that allow anyone to verify that money for natural regeneration is circulating properly.

**1 Automation: Automation through smart contracts**\
The most important feature of blockchain (Ethereum) is its quality as “programmable money.” The mechanism itself can become an autonomous social infrastructure that continuously sustains circulation on its own, with the potential to overcome the fragility of activities that depend on individual goodwill or the constraints of public budgets. We also described payments as a medium that carries the history and context of care—who cared for what, where, and how. By recording proof of these relationships on-chain through code, they can be treated as more reliable.

**2 Records and Transparency: Care records and transparency**\
Deposits and withdrawals on the blockchain are verifiable by anyone. This removes the opacity of “not knowing what it was used for” and allows FoR’s connections to various forms of “care” to be traced at any time. In particular, if funds for forests and local initiatives are not visibly accountable, distrust arises. Blockchain can disclose the flow of funds—deposits into the fund, expenditures, and allocation rules—in a form that can be verified by third parties. This reduces the administrative costs of auditing and reporting while making it easier to attract external funding.

**3 One Economic Zone: Turning watersheds and mountain systems into a single care economy zone**\
To advance resource allocation and decision-making based on natural units such as watersheds and mountain systems rather than administrative boundaries, we will establish a coded co-creation infrastructure capable of supporting the participation of diverse stakeholders. Ecosystems continue across administrative divisions. When attempting to allocate funding by bioregional units such as watersheds and mountain systems, consensus-building among multiple actors—local governments, companies, residents, NPOs, and others—is necessary. On-chain voting and delegation via smart contracts can clarify the rules and provide “institutional durability,” allowing operations to continue even as participants change.

**4 Sustainability: Environmentally responsible technology**\
Blockchain, once criticized for its electricity consumption, has reduced its energy burden by approximately 99.95% through the adoption of PoS (Proof-of-Stake), as represented by Ethereum, and FoR has adopted it on the basis that this technology can be environmentally responsible. However, because the operational burden of the system is not zero, FoR limits records to the elements for which public accountability and tamper resistance are essential, and does not place everything on-chain. To avoid overapplying technology and to preserve the circulation of care, FoR uses blockchain sincerely as a “minimal social technology.” That is FoR’s stance.


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