Autonomous Forest by terra0

“A living work of art,” Autonomous Forest frames ecological stewardship as a techno-legal artwork. A decade in the making, the work by artists Paul Kolling and Paul Seidler stands as one of the clearest examples of a living protocol world, as discussed in moments throughout this year including the first.

This author spoke to the artists about “terra0’s evolution over the last 10 years.

The project pairs a German association (Verein) with a DAO to collectively acquire and hold forest land, then govern it through voting mechanisms on the blockchain.

Emerging from terra0’s 2016 white paper by Paul Seidler, Paul Kolling and Max Hampshire and later experiments like Flower Tokens and Primna Demon, the project developed into a practical structure designed to remove ecosystems from profit-driven extraction and allow regeneration on its own terms.

The end of 2025 saw the project’s NFT launch, which marked a further surrender of artistic control. Its proceeds will fund the acquisition of a third forest plot and the next phase focused on building a community capable of steering the work long-term.