2030 Finance | April 25, 2017

How Australia’s New Forests measures the sustainability of its forests

ImpactAlpha
The team at

ImpactAlpha

Climate Finance

In its latest sustainability report, New Forests details how it is deploying technology and R&D to enhance sustainability and track productivity on the 840,000 hectares of forestland in its portfolio.

For example, the company uses LiDAR technology to use “short wavelengths of light in the electromagnetic spectrum” to remotely measure the dimensions of tree growth and underlying land. It is experimenting with sensors on harvesting machinery to collect log dimension and quality data.

Australia-based New Forests says technology R&D is key to meeting sustainability and productivity goals. Last year, the firm had AUD 3.6 billion in assets under management and committed capital across its six funds in Australia, New Zealand, the U.S. and Asia.

New Forests says all but four percent of its 6.3 million metric tonnes (9.6 million tons) of timber production is sustainably certified; certification of the rest is underway.

This post originally appeared in ImpactAlpha’s daily newsletter. Get The Brief.