Equitable forestry

A scalable, “bottom-up” approach to mitigating tropical deforestation.

Graphic of the Equitable Forestry model. Click for a larger view.We believe that through impact investments in sustainable forestry we can mitigate tropical deforestation on a broad scale. The causes of tropical deforestation are many, and our business cannot address them all. Planting Empowerment and our investors focus on reducing tropical deforestation resulting from activities such as small agriculture and cattle ranching. 

The Equitable Forestry model (EFM) is our framework to address these issues. This pioneering approach grew from a local need for more sustainable income-generating activities, and the need to slow deforestation in rural Panama. First implemented in 2007 through a 25 acre pilot project, the Equitable Forestry approach has been well received by our rural Panamanian partners.

The following are the tenets of the Equitable Forestry model:

Land tenure >
Partnership mentality >
Native species >
Scalability >
Measurement >