50 global development financiers and business managers met in Finland on March 13-15 2019 to see what more private businesses could do to save the forests of Africa, Latin America and Asia. The round table meeting was organized by Finnfund. See  (https://www.finnfund.fi/blog/sustainable-forestry-meeting/) for Finnfund’s blog about the meeting.

Timberland investment activity emerged in the US during 1980’s. During the past ten years forests have become an asset class in Europe. In Europe, some 3.5 million hectares of commercial forests were divested to new investors by 2018. At the same time, the consumption of domestic wood by the industry continued to increase.

Dasos has played an active role in the development.

In emerging markets timberland is a recognized asset class in Latin America. In selected regions in Africa there is huge tree planting potential, but timberland is still far from being an asset class in Africa. In order to un-tap the potential of afforestation/reforestation investment for the climate change mitigation/adaptation, timberland has to become established as an asset class. The lessons learned in the European development should be taken advantage of.

For more information, please contact Petteri Seppänen, tel. +358 40 728 2819