Perennial and rTek Launch Strategic 10-Year Exclusive MMRV Partnership to Regenerate Globally Degraded Grasslands

Business Wire

27-05-2025

BOULDER, Colo. & ALMATY, Kazakhstan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--rTek, an Almaty-based precision agriculture start up and nature-based solutions (NbS) carbon credits project developer, has selected Perennial, a global leader in measurement, monitoring, reporting, and verification (MMRV) for environmental assets, as its exclusive soil carbon MMRV provider for the next 10 years to deliver high-integrity carbon credits globally. The first project aims to regenerate 500,000 hectares of degraded grasslands, support sustainable production and livelihoods, and establish quality assurance systems for sustainable grassland management in Kazakhstan.
This collaboration aims to regenerate Kazakhstan's soils through sustainable agricultural land management, positioning Kazakhstan as a frontier market in global carbon finance. The partnership will leverage Perennial's expertise with Verra methodologies and core innovative technology - digital soil mapping (DSM) and advanced soil organic carbon (SOC) modeling - with rTek's local expertise in land management, design, and implementation of carbon projects.
'Kazakh farmers and government are excited yet skeptical about soil carbon credits. Now's the time to roll up our sleeves and show how real carbon market funding can kickstart regenerative agriculture. Perennial's super-accurate models, backed by our solid field data, are key to opening up these markets for Kazakhstan's 184 million hectares of rangeland. This partnership sends a strong message to the market: NbS is open for business in Kazakhstan.'
— Stuart Bowlin, Managing Partner of rTek
Supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) with funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), this initiative falls under the Kazakhstan Resilient Agroforestry and Rangeland Project, which promotes sustainable pasture management. The activity 'Support for Access to International Carbon Markets,' aims to demonstrate how carbon trade can serve as a catalyst for attracting private investments. By doing so, it seeks to enhance sustainable pastureland management, develop critical infrastructure, and facilitate access to international carbon markets for long-term financial sustainability. Set to begin baseline modeling in 2025, this initiative will implement advanced MMRV methodologies compliant with Verra's VM0032 standards, enabling accurate soil carbon credit generation and enhancing rTek's capacity to manage and expand grassland restoration.
'There's more carbon stored in soil than in the atmosphere and all vegetation combined—yet we've only just begun to tap into soil's potential as a climate solution. Grasslands, in particular, hold extraordinary promise. They cover nearly half the Earth's land surface and are often overlooked in climate plans, but their ability to store carbon and support rural livelihoods makes them one of our greatest opportunities for impact. With the right financial mechanisms and investment, we can reverse degradation and unlock natural carbon sinks at scale.'
— Jack Roswell, CEO of Perennial
The rTek–Perennial partnership is a first of its kind 10-year partnership between a Carbon Project Developer and an independent MMRV to tackle regenerating soils at large scale and marks a key milestone in advancing scalable, transparent NbS in emerging markets.
Join rTek and Perennial in transforming 500,000+ hectares of Kazakhstan's long-degraded grasslands into a global example for sustainable agriculture and carbon sequestration. We invite investors and carbon credit buyers to partner with us to finance or offtake the highest possible integrity NbS removals carbon credits, driving scalable impact for climate, livelihoods, and NbS.
About Perennial
Perennial is a full-service MMRV (measurement, monitoring, reporting, and verification) company that delivers certified, outcome-based measurements for any crop and any program—anywhere in the world. Its advanced digital soil mapping technology drastically reduces sampling needs and eliminates geographical limitations, making it the most cost-effective, streamlined, and scalable way to measure, report, and verify emissions reductions, carbon removal, and sustainable outcomes. Based in Boulder, CO, Perennial has raised $25M+ from leaders in climate, tech, ag, and carbon markets; GenZero, Bloomberg LP, Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund, SineWave Ventures, and Augment Ventures.
About rTek
Founded in 2002 in Almaty, rTek is a leading Kazakhstan-based developer of carbon credits and nature-based solutions (NbS), with projects including KazBeef's sustainable grassland management, Kazakhstan's first biochar project, and Kazakhstan's first Article 6.2 project. Through its Terratune cloud platform built on Google Earth Engine, and innovative AgTech - including UAVs and AI-powered livestock monitoring, rTek delivers actionable insights to farmers, driving profitable and environmentally sound land management.
Learn more at www.perennial.earth and www.rtek.kz.