Forest Invest

As there are no widely accepted definitions in the lexicon that makes up responsible investing , semantics are important. This is because how you define terms like ESG, sustainable and impact investing as they relate to forest investments will have different implications - it could be in the types of forests you invest, the geographies of your investment, the end markets, return expectations and s...

Join me today as I speak with Anthony Traina, Co-Founder of Tropical American Timber, a value-added producer and distributor of tropical hardwoods. We talk about lesser-known species as well as household names in tropical hardwoods. We discuss sustainability and trust—two key factors in determining where Anthony has sourced his wood to date and where he is looking to expand in the future. We also...

Join me today in the second of a two-part series, as I speak with Anne Valto, Senior Development Impact Advisor at Finnfund - the Finnish Development Finance Institution. In our conversation, Anne describes how Finnfund evaluates impact in deal due diligence. She explains how often their investees are not initially well capacitated to manage for impact, and how they are supporting to resolve this....

Join me today in the first of a two-part series, as I speak with Peter Chappell, Investment Manager at Finnfund - the Finnish Development Finance Institution which, like the country, has a long history of investing in forests. In our conversation, Peter explains why Finnfund’s mandate is for greenfield investments, and why financial viability is one of their primary impact criteria. We discuss the...

Join me today as I speak with Aleksandra Holmlund, CEO of Qarlbo Biodiversity for a glimpse into the biodiversity crediting mechanism she has championed in Sweden. In this conversation we explore the biodiversity finance mechanism developed in cooperation with the Swedish University of Agriculture that focuses on production forest landscapes. In a nutshell, the mechanism works from a baseline of b...

Join me today as I speak with Asger Strange Olesen and Herbert Yancey of the International Woodland Company, Asset Management + for an informative discussion on the EU Taxonomy. In this conversation we dig into the differences between the SFDR and the EU Taxonomy and how investors are looking at these sustainability regulations and tools. Though largely a concern for European investors, we talk ab...

Join me today as I speak with Gabriela Leslie, Senior Manager, Food, Agriculture and Natural Capital at the Creo Syndicate - a membership organization that supports its family office members to better understand the latest developments in climate investing. It creates a platform for private family investors to come together, learn from each other and collaborate on investment opportunities to solv...

Join me today as I speak with Thorsten Arndt, Head of Advocacy at the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), where we discuss PEFC and how in addition to facilitating sustainable forest management, it can help those with forest products in their supply chains align to various voluntary and mandatory sustainability disclosure requirements. We dig deep into the EU Regulation o...

Join me today as I speak with Andrea Braun, Director of Unique Forest Investment, where we dive into all things Paraguay – well related to forest investment that is. In our conversation, Andrea describes why Paraguay is becoming a favourable forest investment destination – covering several macro-level indicators as well as forest specifics relating to biological and climatic growing conditions, ma...

Join me today as I speak with Edit Kiss, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Integrity Capital Advisors. She discusses Integrity Capital Advisors three-pronged strategy for unlocking capital for nature: 1. Imbedding carbon with real assets 2. Appreciating the capital continuum, and 3. Blended finance. We discuss the equity-type risks investors face when funding forest carbon projects, and solutions...

In this episode, I am joined by James Kench, Head of Insurance at Kita. In our conversation James discusses the role of insurance as an enabler to mobilize capital into natural climate solutions in forestry. He describes how their product has been structured to address the most significant risks observed in forest carbon projects, giving some insights into what those risks are. He explains that gi...

Today I’m joined by Steve Novakovic, Managing Director for the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association (CAIA) Curriculum. CAIA serves its international membership across the finance industry enhancing education in relation to alternative investments. From Steve’s wide knowledge of alternative investments, he describes how timberland investment plays a very important role in building a...

In this Canada Day episode, I am joined by Dr. Gary Bull, Professor at the University of British Columbia Faculty of Forestry. In our conversation Gary discusses the fundamentals of fire ecology in the context of Canada’s forests, and how it has changed in recent years. He describes the grand transition – both a paradigm shift in forest management practices in British Columbia and indigenous land...

In today’s episode, I am joined by Dr. Stephanie Gripne, Founder and CEO of the Impact Finance Center and Impact Investing Institute. In our conversation Stephanie identifies some primary challenges with raising capital for forests – that is the need to first, raise investors and second – think about what the forest needs. She describes the need for full spectrum capital to address the needs of th...

In today’s episode, I am joined by Chris Lipton, Head of Timberland Investments and Cristina Hastings, Head of Sustainability at Nuveen Natural Capital. Listen to our conversation, where Chris explains how timberland investment has changed in recent years and Cristina presents the natural capital balance sheet, which supports Nuveen Natural Capital in valuing nature. “We are not trying to attach a...

Today I’m joined by Maria Filmanovic, Co-founder of Abatable. Abatable has developed a platform that enables corporates to access carbon credits from vetted forest carbon projects (among other types of nature-based solutions) and the project developer ecosystem. Listen to our conversation, where Maria explains the various players in forest carbon markets. From Abatable’s extensive market intel, Ma...

Understanding, evaluating, and avoiding or mitigating risk is a key component of any investment decision, and for forest assets it is no different. The difficulty lies where investors don’t understand (and often have inaccurate perceptions) of the risks associated with forest assets. Today, we’re joined by Gordon Steward, of Dual – Managing Director of Forestry. In our conversation, Gordon walks u...

Join me today as I chat with Martin Halle of the United Nations Environment Programme, where he explains the Restoration Seed Capital Facility (RSCF). Learn about the challenges it was created to solve, how the landscape of forest investment is evolving in emerging markets and how fund managers can access this seed funding to help with new fund establishment and pipeline origination. Significant q...

Welcome to Forest Invest. This podcast is for Investment Professionals looking to expand their knowledge on forest investments for profit and impact. Sign up now for the ForestLink’s newsletter, where you’ll receive technical advice, reflections, and best-practice guidance to support you with your forest-linked investment strategy or business straight to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/...