Investing in locally controlled forests could offer great returns and help communities in forested regions of developing countries to flourish and work themselves out of poverty, according to AAA.

Boston, MA, USA, November 2, 2012 — Investing in locally controlled forests could offer great returns and help communities in forested regions of developing countries to flourish and work themselves out of poverty, according to Alternative Asset Analysis (AAA).

Following a report in The Guardian newspaper in the UK, which advocated the investing in locally controlled forests (ILCF) model, AAA’s analysis partner, Anthony Johnson, spoke about the model. He stated, “We believe that encouraging investment in locally managed forests can benefit communities and help to prevent climate change.”

“Not only does investing in managed forests generate very good returns for alternative investors, increasing the amount given over to forestry also helps to absorb carbon dioxide and generate cash for local community, social and business projects.”

The investment model has so far involved dialogues with nine countries in four continents and has attracted funding from Growing Forest Partnership (GFP). The project also gets funding from the government of Sweden, which has a rich history of successful ILCF.

The G3 definition of ILCF is “The local right for forest owner families and communities to make decisions on commercial forest management and land use, with secure tenure rights, freedom of association and access to markets and technology.”

AAA said that they support this model for forestry management and investment and also support sustainable plantations in countries like Brazil. Businesses that run managed forestry projects, such as Greenwood Management, can help to provide alternative sources of timber and biomass, thus protecting local forests that might be targeted for timber products if these alternatives were not available.

Alternative investors are increasingly seeking ethical options, largely in response to the growing awareness of the benefits of impact investing. However, some investors are also simply keen to make wiser choices when deciding on an investment after the impact of the economic crisis and the controversies that surrounded this.

About Alternative Asset Analysis:
The remit of Alternative Asset Analysis is to analyse and provide news on the global performance of a wide range of alternative asset classes including, but not restricted to, commodities, real estate, forestry, foreign exchange, hedge funds, private equity and venture capital.

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