Beyond Soil Carbon: Boomitra Launches First Biomass Carbon Removal Project

(Boomitra) Boomitra’s Oasis Biomass Carbon Removal and Storage Project tackles woody bush encroachment in Botswana, restores grazing lands and delivers durable carbon removal

Boomitra, a global carbon project developer and Earthshot Prize winner, today announced its first carbon removal initiative beyond soil carbon: a Biomass Carbon Removal and Storage (BiCRS) project in Botswana. The project addresses one of the region’s most pressing land restoration challenges—woody bush encroachment—by transforming biomass from encroaching woody species into a durable climate solution.

The Oasis Biomass Carbon Removal and Storage Project uses a relatively low-tech, highly scalable approach to remove encroaching woody vegetation, process it into tightly sealed bales, and bury it underground in oxygen-free conditions to achieve 100+ year carbon permanence. In addition to restoring bush-encroached savanna ecosystems, the project will create rural jobs, support biodiversity, and provide ranchers with new economic opportunities.

“This is a natural evolution for Boomitra,” said Aadith Moorthy, Boomitra Founder & CEO. “We’ve built a strong track record managing complex soil carbon projects in over 10 countries. Now we’re applying that operational expertise to a new, high-integrity removal pathway—one that can solve a real problem for ranchers and landowners across Southern Africa. This is just the beginning.”

Bush encroachment, a widespread challenge in Botswana and across the region, involves the overtaking of grasslands by certain encroaching woody species. This phenomenon leads to decreased biodiversity, lower livestock productivity and increased wildfire risk. For most ranchers and landowners, managing this encroachment is financially out of reach. Additionally, management practices are often limited to burning or chemical treatments, which have negative consequences for local ecosystems.

Boomitra’s BiCRS project addresses that challenge by turning a land degradation problem into a climate solution. By processing and securely storing encroaching biomass, the project prevents it from decomposing or burning—two outcomes that would otherwise re-emit carbon into the atmosphere.

In its first 10-year phase, the project will restore 10,000 hectares and sequester more than 200,000 tonnes of CO₂. Boomitra highlights that the project has the potential to scale to over 1 million hectares across the region.

The project follows BiCRS best practices and has passed Preliminary Assessment with Puro.Earth, one of the leading standards for durable carbon removal. Boomitra’s monitoring plan includes traceable biomass accounting and GHG flux monitoring using soil gas flux chambers to ensure long-term integrity and detect any potential re-emissions.

Unlike high-tech engineered solutions, Boomitra’s approach requires minimal infrastructure and can be deployed in remote areas. This makes it cost-effective, energy-efficient, and scalable across the Global South, including in Boomitra’s existing project geographies like Argentina and Mexico.

Boomitra works with local expert partners to selectively remove targeted woody species, dry and process biomass into dense, sealed bales, then bury the bales underground at secure sites. This process durably stores carbon for over 100 years, while restoring key savanna ecosystems—resulting in improved land productivity, increased biodiversity, restored habitats, and job creation.

The project is being implemented in partnership with Brahmans Botswana, a livestock and rangeland management company working to restore grazing productivity across the country, and Namibia Resource Consultants, an environmental consultancy specializing in regenerative farming, bush control, biodiversity, and sustainable land use planning. Their on-the-ground expertise and established networks with landowners are critical to scaling and sustaining the project’s impact.

“Our bush densities have now reached the point where it can no longer be ignored, and the bush-to-grass balance needs to be restored,” said Sheldon Barnes of Brahmans Botswana. “Partnering with Boomitra allows us to turn a regional challenge into a long-term opportunity for the land and the communities that depend on it.”

Boomitra’s expansion into BiCRS complements its leadership in soil carbon, where it has already developed 8 major projects across 10 countries, covering 5 million acres and working with over 100,000 farmers and ranchers.

“We’ve always believed that carbon removal should solve problems for people and ecosystems, not just remove carbon,” said Moorthy. “That’s what makes this project so powerful. It restores degraded lands, supports rural livelihoods, and permanently removes carbon from the atmosphere.”

Boomitra is a global carbon project developer pioneering scalable, high-integrity carbon removal solutions. An Earthshot Prize winner, Boomitra has built award-winning soil carbon projects and is now expanding into Biomass Carbon Removal and Storage. Boomitra’s work benefits over 100,000 farmers and ranchers across four continents and has already removed over 10 million tonnes of CO₂ from the atmosphere.