Financing
Most forestry projects in developing countries are supported by public funding and overseas development assistance. These funding sources are critical, but never will be enough to preserve tropical forests at the necessary rate and scale. Private financial investors and eventually carbon markets must also play a role. For most private investors, however, the first transactions present too much risk for an uncertain return. Financial and carbon-driven flows of funds depend on people working now to stimulate investment interest and prove the methodologies.
Helping projects access financing is one of the CCI forestry team’s principal activities, and our business orientation makes us particularly effective. We understand that for financial investors, forestry projects must generate revenue either from forest products or from the potential carbon value once markets are ready. We can improve the commercial viability of projects by raising project management to best practice standards, increasing scale, and measuring carbon value. With our understanding of the needs of our partner governments and the investment communities, we can develop project business plans that satisfy both parties, and we are putting together some of the first commercial deals in this arena.
