- Targets South Africa’s invasive plant crisis, which threatens biodiversity, water security, and land productivity.
- Leverages mobile biochar technology to store carbon for centuries while creating community economic benefits.
- Aims to position South Africa as a global leader in biochar-based carbon removal and ecosystem restoration.
Sayari Earth has entered a research partnership with Stellenbosch University’s School for Climate Studies to investigate how mobile biochar production can simultaneously restore ecosystems, capture carbon, and open new economic pathways in South Africa.
The collaboration comes as invasive alien plants (IAPs) spread across roughly 10% of the country’s surface, jeopardizing biodiversity and water security. By converting invasive biomass into biochar—a stable form of carbon that can remain locked away for centuries—the project addresses ecological, climate, and community challenges in one integrated approach.
Over the next year, the team will conduct biomass and soil carbon assessments, analyze economic and biodiversity benefits, and develop a value chain model for biochar markets in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. Joint funding applications will support scaling the model nationally and globally.
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Stellenbosch University will lead on biodiversity research, carbon data analysis, and value chain studies, while Sayari Earth will provide mobile biochar technology, carbon monitoring, community capacity building, and economic analysis using earth observation tools.
“The SCS is excited to be working on a challenging and multi-disciplinary topic of such crucial importance in the science to implementation space with Sayari Earth,” said Prof. Guy Midgley, Director of the School for Climate Studies. “This work offers us the opportunity to contribute to building the evidence base for the sustainability of nature-based solutions that restore natural ecosystems and serve people directly.”
Dr. Hassan Sachedina, CEO and Founder of Sayari Earth, added, “This partnership reflects our goal to deliver nature-based solutions that work for both people and the planet with a solid academic foundation. Together, we can turn waste invasive biomass into a climate asset while creating new livelihood opportunities.”
The research phase begins in August 2025 and runs through July 2026, with early findings on value chain feasibility expected by year-end 2025. If successful, the project could put South Africa at the forefront of global biochar-based carbon removal and biodiversity restoration efforts.
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