Archive for the ‘Green Investments’ Category

Silva Tree Timber Investment Summer Offer

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010

Upon client request, Silva Tree have reduced their minimum investment amount to just 4,995GBP for a limited time only. This unique opportunity to invest in the Princess Project Panama at a lower level, ensures that everyone has the opportunity to take part in this ethical timber investment using the fast-growing species Paulownia.

Starting from the 3rd August 2010, Silva Tree have created a unique investment opportunity with land units for sale for less than 5000 Pounds, valid until the end of October 2010 or until units run out. For less than a quarter of the normal minimum investment amount, you can now take part in the Princess Project Panama, an ethical timber investment using Paulownia for reforestation. Just 4995GBP will buy you 2,000 m2 of land with 132 Paulownia trees for a 20 year investment term. The trees will be harvested every 5 years and returns distributed to you by Citadel Trustees Ltd., who also hold the entire project in trust.

The decision to reduce the minimum participation amount came from Silva Tree’s discussions with many clients, or their IFAs, who wish to invest in the project but do not possess sufficient funds to participate, particularly via SIPPs and pensions. By lowering the investment figure to a minimum of 4995GBP with legal fees included, almost anyone who interested in the project, albeit purely for financial gain or motivated by environmental concerns, will be able to invest.

To ensure that previous investors as well as those who are investing at the higher level of 35,000$US (or Euro or GBP equivalent) are not at a disadvantage because of this development, the returns achieved by the higher investment amount are also higher.

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Posted in Forestry Market, Green Investments, Princess Project, Silva Tree | No Comments »

Silva Tree Princess Project Carbon Offset Validation

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

The Princess Project Panama is a reforestation project using the fast growing tree species Paulownia Elongata. Although it is a commercial timber plantation, the project is also being developed as a Carbon offset project by Silva Tree Panama. Following many months of development, the Princess Project is finally ready to be validated under the Voluntary Carbon Standard, the first stage of achieving certification. The official VCS auditor that has been selected for the task is the Rainforest Alliance. The Rainforest Alliance is an international non-profit organization accredited by the American National Standards Institute to ISO 14065:2007 (the international standard for greenhouse gas validation and verification bodies). An experienced Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) auditor will perform a number of checks on the project to ensure its design meets the VCS.

Once the Princess Project validation has been completed, the monitoring plan for Carbon sequestration will commence and the Carbon project will undergo verification to ensure the correct amount of Carbon has been absorbed by the Paulownia trees. The Rainforest Alliance will most likely be selected to perform this stage of VCS certification as well.

The Princess Project Panama continues to be sold as an investment opportunity by Silva Tree and its network of agents.

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Posted in Environment, Green Investments, Princess Project, Silva Tree | 1 Comment »

Ethical Timber in Panama

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

Panama’s forests have suffered a great deal in past years, with data showing a national forest cover of 70% in 1947 which had dwindled to just 53% by 1970. An average of 41.321 hectares of forest were destroyed annually from 1992 to 2000 (Garver, RD, FAO). Despite this loss, Panama has 21 times more plant species per km2 than Brazil and the most species of vertebrates than any other country in Central America and the Caribbean.

In order to maintain this wonderful country’s natural resources and biodiversity, drastic action must be taken quickly and sustainable forestry practices must be introduced. Silva Tree’s Princess Project Panama aims to do just that. Not just a sustainable Paulownia plantation, the project also includes a social education program designed to introduce ethical forestry practices to the local people of Panama. Forestry practices have so far not been a popular economic activity, even though the country’s climate and terrain are ideally suited to this practice and, indeed, once used to support natural rainforest.

Governmental investments and incentives in the forestry sector have historically been abused, resulting in a scattering of poorly managed and even altogether abandoned timber plantations. The result is a country that is ideally suited to investment in the ethical timber sector, but that relies on private, and often foreign, investors for this.

It is surprising that so few private companies or large investors have seen the potential in Panama, but now Silva Tree have decided to capitalise on the lack of previous investment in the field.

Silva Tree are developing a 1500 hectare project, planting the tree species Paulownia Elongata in the Chépo area of Panama. The project is pioneering in several ways; from the tree species used to the ethical nature of its practices. The Princess Project will facilitate education programs which Silva Tree hope will encourage Panamanians to continue forestry practices and slow the country’s deforestation rate.

Ethical timber investments offer multiple benefits: The production of timber produces income for Panamanian citizens, the trees protect soils from erosion and degradation, roots maintain water tables and forests provide habitats and migration pathways for animals. Finally, forests, even commercial plantations if managed sustainably, sequester Carbon through photosynthesis, which helps to fight the causes of climate change.

The Silva Tree Princess Project Panama is one of the only ethical timber investments in the country, and future plans include a larger biomass production project, also based on ethically grown timber. The projects provide local employment and education in areas that desperately require them, and Silva Tree hope that their investment in the ethical timber sector will make a real difference to Panama and its people.

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Posted in Forestry Market, Green Investments, Princess Project, Silva Tree | 1 Comment »

Silva Tree Open Weekend May 2010

Tuesday, May 11th, 2010

The first of a series of opendays will be happening this month, in Silva Tree’s offices in Bloomsbury. The event will run from the 21st-23rd May 2010 and will showcase Silva Tree’s projects, future plans and underlying ethics.

Silva Tree Director Patrick Visser will present as well as senior staff from Citadel trustees, both will be speaking and answering questions about the Silva Tree Princess Project and any other matters relating to Silva Tree investments.

Entrance is free but spaces are limited so interested parties should contact the Silva Tree UK office immediately. Please click for contact details.

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Posted in Green Investments, Princess Project, Silva Tree | No Comments »

Paulownia for Biomass

Wednesday, April 14th, 2010

Every six hours, our planet receives as much energy from the sun as the world consumes in a year.  If we could just collect it, all of our energy problems would be over.  When we think of utilising the sun’s energy for our own power needs, we think of solar panels or the ever-growing solar parks.  In fact, this is not the only way to harness the power of the sun, and neither is it the most efficient.  Why would we build machines to capture the sun’s energy when plants already do it naturally?

Plants absorb the sun’s energy by photosynthesis and convert it into biological material, or biomass. We can use this biomass for our own energy needs by extracting it from plants and burning it to produce electricity.  Research is also being conducted into dissolving it to produce Ethanol.  Biomass traditionally comes in three forms; pellets, chips and Briquettes, depending on its final use.  It is green, clean, sustainable and environmental.  Even if it is burned for electricity production, biomass can only release the amount of CO2 that the plant it came from originally absorbed, so it is in fact Carbon neutral.

Silva Tree have been researching biofuel production, particularly biomass produced from Paulownia.  Most biomass projects are based on smaller crops such as grasses or bushes because trees grow too slowly to produce biomass efficiently, but Paulownia could change all that.  It is one of the fastest growing trees in the world, and as such amasses a great deal of biomass in a short time.  This makes it a very good candidate for biomass production and, because it grows upwards, it requires less land than a shorter crop.

A major concern with bio-fuel production has been the use of agricultural land which could otherwise be used to grow food.  Many have argued that land which could be used for food should not be used for fuel production just because it is more lucrative, as this could cause a major global food shortage.  Unlike many other biofuel crops, however, Paulownia grows in degraded land and does not require the high quality agricultural land which is traditionally used for the production of food.  On the contrary, it actually reclaims poor quality land and can be intercropped with almost anything, so one can actually grow food on previously unproductive land.

We believe that Paulownia could make a big difference to the renewable energy sector and it will be the basis of our next project, to be launched very soon.

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Posted in Environment, Green Investments, Silva Tree | 22 Comments »