Macquarie's Carbon Forestry Funding Welcomed by FRA

Seattle, WA, July 15, 2011 -- Australia’s Macquarie Group has announced that it has raised A$25 million for its range of new forest carbon projects in developing countries, which it is undertaking with the World Bank and Global Forest Partners LP.

Forestry Research Associates (FRA), a research and advisory consultancy, has welcomed the news of the new carbon projects as another major move towards helping reduce deforestation in the world’s poorer nations.

The funding is part of a wider UN-backed carbon forestry deal, called REDD, that provides financial incentives for developing countries that take measures to preserve their forests in order to reduce the amount of carbon emitted through deforestation, explained FRA.

Macquarie Group’s BioCarbon Group has agreed to terms with the International Forest Corp. and US-based forestry investment firm, Global Forest Partners, to provide the extra funding, which will be invested in further REDD projects in developing nations. These projects are expected to include partnerships with conservation group Fauna & Flora based in Indonesia. BioCarbon is the financial vehicles for these projects.

Brer Adams, the Macquarie Global Investments Associate Director, said he has confidence in the potential benefits the funding will have: "We are very confident we have raised sufficient capital here for us to succeed to have a significant footprint of forest carbon projects.” He added that it is also looking at other nations including those in Southeast Asia, Africa and South America to further extend its carbon forestry projects.

“This is very positive news for the carbon forestry market around the world,” explained Peter Collins, an analyst at FRA. He added, “International investment in forestry projects is essential in order for a successful carbon market to be established. Carbon forestry allows us to ensure that people living in developing countries can benefit from their forests while they are standing, and not just when they are chopped down and sold off. In fact, with the help of carbon forestry initiatives, like the ones funded by Macquarie, we can safeguard the future of the world's forests to provide sustainable income for generations to come.”

FRA added that projects in Brazil and other emerging economies, run by firms like Greenwood Management, attract foreign investment in managed sustainable forestry, which is helping to reduce deforestation and illegal logging in Brazil and elsewhere.

Forestry Research Associates (FRA), a research and advisory consultancy