"On August 7th, an Initiative 20x20 investment roundtable took place for the first time in Brazil. The meeting, which was hosted by the Secretary of the Environment of the State of São Paulo, a member state of Initiative 20x20, brought together investors and entrepreneurs pitching innovative restoration projects.
"The projects, which were all financially feasible, generate environmental, social, and economic benefits. In preparation for the meeting, Initiative 20x20 experts selected projects that demonstrated advanced investment readiness to increase the likelihood that they would receive funding. The productive restoration models that were selected span from pure plantations with native trees such as cedar, genipapo, and jequitibá, to agroforestry systems with products like coffee, honey, and macadamia nuts. The nine projects covered 18,500 hectares in five Brazilian states (São Paulo, Espírito Santo, Mato Grosso, Bahia and Goiás).
"The quality of the projects impressed the roundtable participants, who left the meeting with a positive feeling about the future of restoration in Brazil. The roundtable demonstrated that the execution of restoration projects can generate income and improve human well-being, while playing an important role in the conservation of biodiversity and the generation of ecosystem services.
"These entrepreneurs see opportunity in restoration. They plan to adopt restoration on their own properties to boost their incomes, and they left the meeting with an appreciation of the profitable, multi-functional forest products that a new restoration economy can provide. By bringing together both project entrepreneurs and global investors, the meeting proved the growing interest in investing in Brazilian restoration projects."