Forestry Investments in Emerging Markets

Between the 17th and 19th of May 2011, about 50 participants attended the meeting "Forestry Investments in Emerging Markets." About one third of the participants were socially and environmentally conscious investors and investment advisors. Another one third of the participants jointly represented 17 investment opportunities in the tropical hemisphere, together worth over 95 million of investments in responsible forestry. The meeting took place in the Netherlands, a country with significant expertise in tropical forestry and a history of public and private investment in forestry in developing countries. The meeting was organized by FAO, the NFP Facility and Tropenbos International with support of the Business in Development Network, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation of the Netherlands. The meeting was attended by institutional investors, investment advisors, timber funds, forest business developers, and forestry specialists. Selected NFP Facility partner countries attended the meeting. Participants from these countries included forest finance professionals that have worked domestically to identify promising business opportunities.

Objectives of the meetings were to:

1. Share perspectives on challenges and opportunities regarding the greater involvement of investors in forestry (REDD+, biodiversity, forestry) in emerging markets
2. Showcase and discuss a variety of forestry-based business cases and fund structures as a basis to better understand the requirements and potential of such business cases and for collaborative work between potential investors and promising forest business initiatives in emerging markets.
3. Contribute to an action plan to narrow the gap between investors and forestry opportunities.

The interactive programme - consisting of plenary, panel and group sessions – provided and informal platform for exchange and engagement among participants. Seventeen businessfact sheets from seven countries provided the basis to discuss in concrete terms the risks and opportunities to invest in forestry in emerging and frontier markets. The cases included plantation forestry, natural forest management, processing and alternative businesses. In addition, several participants shared short notes on their work, which were contained in the information package.