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Malua Wildlife Habitat Conservation Bank Launches in Sabah, Malaysia |
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Written by Yasmin
• Friday, 15 August 2008 |
 New Business Model Generates Innovative Product to
Support Wildlife Conservation.
KOTA
KINABALU, August 14, 2008 --/WORLD-WIRE/- The Eco Products Fund, LP, a private equity fund jointly
managed by New Forests Inc. of Washington, D.C. and Equator Environmental,
LLC of New York City, and the Government of Sabah in Malaysia today
launched the Malua Wildlife Habitat Conservation Bank (Malua BioBank, www.maluabiobank.com ), a
first-of-its-kind business model for rainforest conservation.
Sitting adjacent to the Danum Valley Conservation Area, one of the
last pristine lowland tropical rainforests, the Malua BioBank will use a
multimillion dollar investment from the Eco Products Fund to restore and
protect 34,000 hectares (roughly 80,000 acres) of formerly logged forest.
This area provides a crucial buffer between virgin lowland tropical
rainforest and oil palm plantations and is home to one of the highest
concentrations of orangutans in the world. Clouded leopards, pygmy
elephants and over 300 bird species also inhabit the area that will be
protected.
“Nothing like this has ever been done for the
biodiversity in tropical rainforests,” said David Brand, Managing Director
of Sydney-based New Forests Pty Limited, the parent company of New Forests
Inc. “The Malua BioBank translates rainforest protection into a salable
product so that biodiversity conservation can compete with other land uses
on a commercial basis.”
The Malua BioBank will generate
Biodiversity Conservation Certificates, with each Certificate representing
100 square meters of rainforest restoration and protection. The sale of
Biodiversity Conservation Certificates will endow a perpetual conservation
trust and generate a return on investment to both the Sabah Government and
the Eco Products Fund.
“The Sabah State Government has been
actively seeking innovative ways to balance economic development and
rainforest conservation. This project enables private sector companies
working in Malaysia or sourcing products from the country to help fund the
restoration and protection of a high conservation value rainforest,” said
Sam Mannan, Director of the Sabah Forestry Department. “This project is
designed to help economic development and rainforest conservation work for
each other, instead of against each other.”
As commodity and crude
palm oil prices rise, Malaysia is becoming a hotspot for agricultural
expansion. Energy, food and cosmetics companies relying on agribusiness
products, particularly palm oil, are increasingly scrutinized for
perceived impacts on rainforests. By purchasing Biodiversity Conservation
Certificates, buyers can make a credible, long-term contribution to forest
conservation. Four firms in Malaysia have already purchased Biodiversity
Conservation Certificates and several other firms have expressed interest
in the project.
TZ1 Limited, a leading provider of registry
services to the voluntary carbon market, has been selected as the global
registry for the Malua BioBank’s Biodiversity Conservation Certificates.
“The TZ1 Registry will provide a secure online facility enabling efficient
issuance, housing, ownership transfer and retirement of Biodiversity
Conservation Certificates. This will be the first Biodiversity Registry of
its kind in the world,” said Helen Robinson, Chief Executive of TZ1
Registry.
“We are seeing companies becoming increasingly
interested in contributing to rainforest conservation in a way that is
meaningful and financially sustainable,” said Gerrity Lansing, President
of Equator Environmental. “The Malua BioBank provides them with a
transparent and cost-effective way of doing this.”
Globally, the
Eco Products Fund is seeking to support innovative business models that
deliver returns from emerging environmental markets, including
biodiversity, carbon and water. New Forests Asia, a wholly owned
subsidiary of New Forests Pty Limited, will manage the conservation
activities of the Malua BioBank in cooperation with the Sabah Forestry
Department. Based in Kota Kinabalu, New Forests Asia has been established
in response to the growing demand for eco product development and forestry
investment throughout Asia.
“We believe Sabah is well positioned
to become a kind of Silicon Valley for innovation in conservation
finance,” remarked Brand. “The Malua BioBank model and other initiatives
can act as an incubator for emerging business models seeking to support
the long-term conservation of high biodiversity areas throughout the
world.”
How Does the Malua Wildlife Habitat
Conservation Bank Work –
The Sabah State Government has
assigned conservation rights for a period of 50 years to the Malua BioBank
and The Eco Products Fund, LP has committed up to US$10 million for the
rehabilitation of the Malua Forest Reserve over the next 6 years. The
Malua BioBank will sell Biodiversity Conservation Certificates, with each
certificate representing 100 square meters of rainforest restoration and
protection. The purchase of Biodiversity Conservation Certificates
represents a contribution to rainforest conservation in Malua, rather than
an offset for rainforest impacts that a company may have elsewhere. Buyers
purchasing Biodiversity Conservation Certificates understand and
contractually agree that they do not represent an offset against clearing
or degradation of other forests. Revenues generated from the sale of
Biodiversity Conservation Certificates will be used to recover costs
incurred and to endow a trust fund set up to manage the long-term
conservation management of the Malua BioBank over the remaining 44-year
period of the license. Any profit will be shared between the forest
management license holder (Yayasan Sabah, a foundation established by the
Sabah Government to improve the livelihoods of local citizens) and the
Malua BioBank investor. For more information, please see www.maluabiobank.com
About
New Forests Pty Limited –
New Forests Pty Limited is an
environmental investment management and advisory services firm. In
addition to world-leading forestry investment expertise, New Forests is at
the forefront of developing and commercializing environmental products and
evaluating opportunities from emerging environmental markets for carbon
sequestration, biodiversity protection and water quality. New Forests has
offices in Sydney, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Kota Kinabalu
(Malaysia). The company holds an Australian Financial Services License.
For more information, please see www.newforests.com.au
About Equator Environmental, LLC –
Equator Environmental specializes in the generation and
management of high quality carbon credits and environmental assets derived
from reforestation projects, forest conservation and sustainable land
management. Equator uses state-of-the-art financial structuring techniques
to create diversified revenue streams that benefit governments, timberland
owners and local communities who make up its client and partner base.
Equator advocates policies that support the development of ecosystem
markets and create sustainable cash flows related to the protection and
enhancement of the world’s ecosystems. For more information, please see www.equator.net
About the Eco Products Fund, LP –
The Eco Products Fund, LP (EPF) is a $100 million
private equity fund that is jointly managed by New Forests Inc. and
Equator Environmental, LLC. EPF invests in a portfolio of ecosystem-based
instruments associated with wetlands and endangered species conservation,
forest- and land-based carbon sequestration, and water quality
improvements in the United States and internationally.
About the Sabah Forestry Department –
The Sabah Forestry Department is a state government
agency that was established in 1914 and entrusted as the custodian of the
State’s forest resources. A total of some 3.6 million hectares of forest
reserves or about 50% of the total state’s landmass are under the
jurisdiction of the forestry department. The department aims to place all
these forest reserves under Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) based on
the state’s model forest, Deramakot, which is the first tropical forest to
have been certified as a well managed forest under the Forest Stewardship
Council (FSC) standards. The Forestry Department is a strong believer in
SFM as the way forward to ensure a balanced and perpetual role of the
forests for social, environmental and economic gain. Since the statewide
adoption of SFM in 1997, the Forestry Department has been actively working
with partners to achieve this goal, including seeking potential partners
in devising sustainable financing for SFM implementation. For more
information, please see www.forest.sabah.gov.my
About
Yayasan Sabah –
The Sabah Foundation works to assist the
Sabah State Government in strategic development initiatives. The Sabah
Foundation is the largest forest concessionaire in Sabah, wholly owned by
the State Government. It is responsible for the management of
approximately 1 million hectares of forest in Borneo, including forests in
the Danum Valley, Maliau Basin and Imbak Canyon. This area is home to the
highest biodiversity in Sabah. For more information, please see http://www.ysnet.org.my
About
TZ1 Limited–
TZ1 Limited is a pre-eminent environmental
commodities markets infrastructure provider. As the global trend in
managing environmental assets moves towards price-based mechanisms, a
robust registry is an essential tool to provide transparency and
credibility. Only credible and robust financial infrastructure (with
inherent flexibility) will best serve this new marketplace. A core part of
the TZ1 business is its Registry service, providing critical market
capability and giving the necessary comfort to project developers, buyers
and the increasingly important investors in these emerging markets. For
more information, please see http://tz1market.com
CONTACT:
Amanda Hawn
Manager, New Forests
Advisory
+1-415-321-3302
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