Sustainable
Resource
Sustainable resources. If you treat the resource well it will treat you well.
We know sustainable.
Proven results since 1991.
Who We Are
Managing Tropical Forests. Since 1991 we've been investing in and managing large-scale tropical forests to maintain and improve the quality of the forest, improve the quality of life of people we work with, and generate financial returns for investors.
What We Do
Classical forestry in natural tropical forests and in plantations. Sustainable principles. Forest Stewardship Council certified manufacturing and forest management operations.
Join Us
We are passionate about sustainability and making the world right. An international, multi-cultural team. We know our stuff. Intrigued?
Sustainable
Forest Products
Our commitment to sustainable forestry means every product we deliver comes from responsibly managed forests. We maintain the highest standards of environmental stewardship while providing premium tropical hardwood products.
Investor Returns
Prudence. We harvest the biological "income" and don’t touch the "principal."
Tropical timberland is a unique, undervalued, and disappearing asset class. Through Sustainable Forest Systems investment vehicles, it can provide true portfolio diversification, strong cash flow generation, and substantial environmental and social benefits.
There are no good substitutes for tropical timber in many commercial uses, and most tropical timber species native to rainforests cannot be grown on plantations. As a result, 300 years of felling tropical timber has reduced the world’s rainforest acreage by about 40 percent, with unacceptable consequences for forests, communities, and climates.
But there is another way: Use classical forestry practices to selectively cull tropical timber while simultaneously preserving forests. That’s what SFS, whose operations have been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), has been doing in South America since 1991.
Principles & Approach
Tropical timberland is a unique, undervalued, and disappearing asset class.
Together for decades, our multi-cultural team members have a deep collective expertise in forest management, ecology, markets, sustainable development, community work, and operations.
Long before sustainability became a universal buzzword, SFS was founded on the principles of sustainability in three areas – the environment, social relationships, and investor returns. Our work principles are best expressed by the Golden Rule applied to people, planet, and profits: Treat others as one would like others to treat oneself.
Applied to tropical forests, this means that we only harvest the biological growth — typically five to ten trees per hectare every 25 years. In financial terms, we harvest the interest (biological growth) while keeping the principal (main forest structure) untouched or improved.
Harvesting only biological growth means we need an extensive forest, protected as a functioning nature reserve maintaining biodiversity, ecosystem functions, and wildlife corridors. Because there are many species, we also need a lot of land to offer commercially important volumes of forest products.
Typical Plantation Investments
- Increasing supply and planting
- No barriers to entry
- High volatility compared to natural hardwoods
- Long-term real price decreases
- Low operational flexibility
- High correlation with traditional investing assets
High Value Tropical Timber
- Huge biological barriers to entry
- Dwindling amount of the timberland asset
- Robust and increasing demand for certain uses
- Low volatility compared to softwood stumpage
- Long-term real price increases
- Operational flexibility across diverse species and cutting cycles
- True portfolio diversification
- Constructive supply, demand, and inventory dynamics
Making Money
One of the questions we hear most often is “How can you make money for investors if you harvest so few trees so infrequently?” The answer is that the trees are relatively valuable and the land is relatively inexpensive. We harvest the biological growth only — for example, roughly one cubic meter per hectare per year — and we harvest any particular hectare only once every 25 years after approximately 25 cubic meters have regrown.
As a simple illustration: assume one cubic meter of mature timber is worth approximately $50 as a standing tree and a hectare of tropical forest is worth $400. Current yield is $50 / $400 ≈ 12.5%. Adding manufacturing in the tropics typically generates significantly higher returns than timber only by capturing the arbitrage between relatively inexpensive tropical trees and high value international forest products markets.
Resource-First Principles
Sustainable resources. If you treat the resource well it will treat you well. Our operating principles put resource first—first, do no harm.
- Harvest only the biological growth
- Prohibit hunting—many animals are key seed dispersers
- Ensure harvesting activities are very low impact
- Limit forest road access
Harvesting only biological growth requires an extensive, protected forest that functions as a nature reserve, maintaining biodiversity, ecosystem functions, and wildlife corridors.
FSC Certification
All our operations are Forest Stewardship Council certified, ensuring the highest standards of environmental stewardship.
Financial Returns
Generating sustainable returns for our investors since 1991 through responsible forest management and long-term portfolio strategies.
Knowledge Base
Access our research and insights on sustainable forestry practices, tropical forest management, and environmental conservation.
The Team
An international, multi-cultural team passionate about sustainability and making the world right.
We know our stuff.
Working with Communities
The international team works in partnership with local groups to localize SFS’ approach to each specific culture and ecosystem. We believe in collaborative forest management that benefits both the environment and the communities who depend on these forests.
Our community-centered approach ensures that local knowledge and needs are integrated into every aspect of our forest management practices, creating sustainable livelihoods and preserving cultural heritage.
Communities
Humans can create the solution.
Sustainable Forest Systems combines improving resources, quality of life, and investor returns with one operating tenet: treat people as we want to be treated.
In tropical countries where the rule of law may be sporadically enforced, this approach helps protect forests while providing opportunity for people living near them.
We have used these operating principles successfully in Paraguay and Bolivia and expect to continue in Brazil and other tropical areas.
Get In Touch
Interested in sustainable forestry? We’d love to hear from you.
info@sfsc.com
Phone
772-473-0328
800-866-0795
Location
2054 Vista Parkway, Suite 400, West Palm Beach, FL 33411-6742