Forests and farmland, land use and landscapes are the basis of much of the global economy, and they are even more important to those who live in them and live off them. But ever-increasing levels of external investment are making huge impacts — positive and negative.
To shift the balance in favor of beneficial outcomes, growing attention is now focusing on sustainable business models that include more responsible finance, and that are inclusive of men, women and youth in local communities and indigenous peoples.
This complex topic needs to be addressed urgently, and strategically. Different actors and sectors hold pieces of the puzzle, but many are not automatically connected to each other or to wider networks. The overriding question is “How can investing in sustainable land use and land management be made more inclusive of smallholder and community needs while remaining attractive to investors?” Over the last years TBI has conducted various initiatives to increase our understanding and give possible answers to this question.
On this page you will find links to publications, interview articles, news items and external resources, and more. We will continue our work and share our findings through regular updates on this site. So, come back soon to find out more!
Through the Green Finance for SMEs (GFS) programme, Tropenbos International aims to bridge the gap between international finance and local entrepreneurs with ideas for sustainable businesses. In 2022, the programme broadened its strategy by including buyers and exporters in the value chains of forestry and agroforestry products.
To address the effects and causes of climate change and achieve broader goals for inclusive sustainable development, it is important to improve the resilience of landscapes. Climate change has major consequences for people and nature. Many of the more vulnerable countries in the tropics lack the financial and other resources to adapt to climate change effects.
Biodiversity, conservation, and nature-based solutions are essential for healthy societies, resilient economies and thriving businesses. However, there is a gap between new and existing development and climate investments and global funding for biodiversity, conservation, and nature-based solutions. Through a new series of Mobilising more for climate podcasts we will bring stories from the forefront of nature and climate finance that can help close this gap.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the agroforestry and forestry sectors require access to finance to make investments in sustainable practices. With this aim, TBI increases their capacity to develop bankable business proposals. At the same time, TBI collaborates with financial service providers to make new and existing financial products more easily available for SMEs.
On 22 February 2022, a major step forward was taken in Ketapang, West Kalimantan, that allowed local climate-friendly and community-based enterprises to show their products to policy makers and potential investors and customers. And importantly, these producers of handicrafts, organic fertilizers, fruits, vegetables and mushrooms - winners of a new business competition - also shared what they need to expand.
Integrated landscape initiatives have shown promising potential to mobilize and support diverse stakeholders across sectors to work jointly toward shared objectives. However, few integrated landscape initiatives have had access to the finance needed to achieve their goals. There is a clear mismatch between the supply side of private “impact investors” and the demand side of sustainable land-use investments on the ground.
TBI members in Ghana and Indonesia studied landscape-level financial flows to understand how they can better contribute to livelihood and environmental objectives. In Indonesia, the study had an additional and unexpected positive effect.
Financial institutions are often reluctant to provide loans to small and medium-sized enterprises in the forestry and agroforestry sectors. To change this, TBI provides them with information that shows the benefits of investing in these businesses.
Continuing the series of interviews on inclusive landscape finance, Tevis Howard, founding director of Komaza, shares his insights with Bas Louman of Tropenbos International.
Continuing the interview series on inclusive landscape finance, we hear from Marthe Tollenaar and MaryKate Bullen of New Forests, an Australia-based fund management company with more than A$5 billion invested in sustainable leading-edge forestry, land management, and conservation projects in the Asia-Pacific region and the United States.
Continuing the interview series on inclusive landscape finance, three members of the Association of Forest Communities of the Peten (ACOFOP) Guatemala share their insights with Bas Louman of Tropenbos International.
Continuing the interview series on inclusive landscape finance, Paul Hol, CEO of FORM International, shares his views on what is already being achieved and, more importantly, what still needs to be done to attract more investment for reforestation of degraded forest landscapes.
As part of the “Innovative finance for sustainable landscapes” interview series, Noemi Perez, an inclusive finance and investment specialist, with extensive experience with key issues gained from work in both the private and public sectors, spoke with Tropenbos International’s Nick Pasiecznik.
Benjamin Singer of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) Secretariat shares his views on inclusive landscape finance in the latest of this new interview series. He brings a decade of experience from his role in implementing the UNFF’s Global Forest Financing Facilitation Network to the discussion. Here he reflects on using public funds to assist developing countries in their efforts to mobilize finance for sustainable forest management.
In this second edition of the “Innovative finance for sustainable landscapes” interview series, we hear from two sustainable finance experts from the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO).
As part of the “Innovative finance for sustainable landscapes” interview series, the International Institute for Environment and Development’s (IIED) Forest Team Leader Duncan Macqueen spoke with Tropenbos International’s Nick Pasiecznik on increasing finance and investment in sustainable forestry and farming for smallholders.
During the latest Global Landscape Forum, CGIAR FTA, Tropenbos International and CIFOR organized the session “Innovating Finance to Overcome Current Barriers Towards Sustainable Landscapes”.
During the latest edition of Global Landscape Forum (GLF) in Bonn 2019, a plenary on landscape finance was held where different experts discussed about the emerging strategies and models for financing landscape investment at scale, including design features that benefit smallholders and local communities, as well as biodiversity and climate goals.