Blog posts on smallholder agroforestry, indigenous communities, and tropical timber.
Last month we had the privilege of speaking at the annual Yale Forestry Conference on a panel that explored private sector engagement in forest restoration efforts. In the presentation we discussed the details of our sustainable business model, including lessons learned and recommendations for developing community forestry projects.
For a summary of the presentation, visit the Yale School of Forestry blog, or download the presentation slides below.
Yale Forestry Presentation (1 MB)
Parrucci stands with a spiny cedar tree in JanuaryIn early January Planting Empowerment hosted a group of investors in Panama for our fourth annual Panama trip. We spent a couple of days touring our planting sites, getting to know the communities we work with, discussing the issues that we’re at work to address, and exploring firsthand how our forest investments are impacting our partners.
The drive out to the Darien province of Panama is always an adventure. Besides the terrible drivers and wandering livestock, the gaping potholes usually take a toll on our rental car. Somehow we managed to escape this time with only minor vehicular damage. The Darien is different every time I go back – changed road patterns, new construction, more infrastructure, the kids are grown up – but the same environmental and economic problems persist.
I recently wrote an opinion piece for the Winter issue of WorldView magazine that explores the development challenges we faced as Peace Corps Volunteers and how we engage impact investing to help us meet those challenges.
Impact investing is investing with the goal of earning a return while actively generating social and/or environmental benefits. Expected to reach $4 billion in 2012, the market is growing and maturing as more investors align their financial and social/environmental goals, and standards are put into place to measure performance.
While the article may stir controversy among our development colleagues, there is no denying the growth of impact investing. We believe that the forest investments we offer can drive social empowerment in our partner communities and ease pressure on surrounding rainforests.
Measuring the growth of a four year old treeIn December, investment bank J.P. Morgan released a report with the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) detailing interviews with 52 impact or potential impact investors. Impact investing represents roughly $4 billion in market potential in 2012, and is expected to capture potentially 5-10% of all investment in a decade.
The survey aims to uncover impact investor motivations and provide a more transparent view of the overall industry by analyzing investor responses to questions ranging from return expectations to investment motivations to topical investment focus. So what do investors think of the impact investing space? Here are some of the more interesting takeaways, from our perspective.
Arimae's native tree species nursery The UNDP-GEF’s Small Grants Programme recently published a case study on Arimae’s sustainable agroforestry project.
The piece highlights the three main components of the project, which Arimae conceived as a way to explore sustainable economic alternatives:
Planting Empowerment played a role by helping to manage the project and providing technical support. The project is generating social and environmental impacts by offsetting carbon and providing jobs and training to Arimae community members.
We expect to build on this success by facilitating agroforestry projects with other communities and incorporating that experience into our own operations.
Planting Empowerment is a sustainable agroforestry company working with indigenous communities and smallholders in Panama.
