Ecotrust Forest Management, one of Ecotrust’s for-profit subsidiaries, has been selected for the ImpactAssets 50 2012 — an open-source, publicly published database of experienced private debt and equity impact investment fund managers. The ImpactAssets 50 2012 is a resource for advisors and investors seeking to respond to the growing demand for investment opportunities that deliver both financial and social or environmental returns, and is now available here.

Ecotrust Forest Management manages 13,000 acres of Oregon and Washington forestland to deliver timber, wildlife habitat, clean water, carbon sequestration and local jobs.

This annually updated list is a gateway into the world of impact investing for investors and their wealth advisors, offering an easy way to identify experienced impact investment firms and explore potential investment options.  The IA 50 is intended to illustrate the breadth of impact investment fund managers operating today; the IA 50 2012 represents $10.2 billion of capital invested across geographies, sectors, asset classes , and impact areas such as community development, microfinance , and clean technology.

A selection committee chaired by ImpactAssets’ Chief Strategist, Jed Emerson, and comprised of industry experts, selects firms according to a set of criteria developed to ensure that the list includes a diverse set of firms . To be included, firms must: have more than three years of experience in the impact investing field; invest through private debt or equity; and a demonstrated commitment to social and environmental impact at the portfolio level and corporate responsibility at the firm level.

“EFM is honored to be named among the 50 best impact investment fund managers in the world. We are committed to demonstrating an alternative approach to managing forests in the region — one that can be financially competitive, while at the same time beneficial to the health and resilience of ecosystems and rural communities,” says Bettina von Hagen, CEO of Ecotrust Forest Management.

 

Today’s young people are carrying on the work started by Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps, the 1933 New Deal program that put young men back to work restoring our nation’s forests. Current programs, such as Northwest Youth Corps, now provide tens of thousands of young women and men with job skill training through reforestation, trail building, and habitat conservation work.

Public agencies such as the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) are coordinating across jurisdictions to restore habitat, and they depend in part upon these youth corps to do the hard work of cultivating native plants and fighting back invasive species. So youth corps’ work provides the heart and soul of restoration work — the on-the-ground sweat equity invested in more resilient forests, streams and salmon populations that will pay dividends for generations to come.

This video from the BLM shows youth corps and Ecotrust staff in action working on the recovery of endangered salmon and steelhead, including work on Ecotrust Forest Management land on Waldron Creek in Oregon’s Tillamook County.

Kate Carone is program coordinator for Ecotrust’s Whole Watershed Restoration Initiative.

Connect with us: