Willow Rivers Wealth Responsible Investments Blog

Research recently published in New Scientist magazine has shed new light on the way our planets weather is formed. Meteorologists have suggested that the world’s forestry is acting as a gigantic pump, generating tremendous winds that push rainfall all over the globe.

Forestry has a long-standing relationship with rain - nearly 50% of all precipitation that falls on a typical tropical rainforest is evaporation from the trees. This in turn keeps the air above the canopy moist and with strong winds arriving from the ocean, more and more rain is generated; hence the name ‘rainforest’. But now two Russian scientists claim that the forests themselves are in fact creating more wind pumping the moisture across the planet.

In a very brief explanation the process is as follows; 1) Vapour from forests and oceans condense to from droplets and clouds. 2) The gas takes up less space as it turns to liquid, lowering local air pressure. 3) The pressure is lower over coastal forests, which suck in moist air from the ocean, generating wind which pumps the moisture further inland. 4) This process continues over and over again covering new sections of forest and pushing rain and moisture further and further inland.

If these scientists are correct then government attitudes to forestry and climate change may be changed forever. To justify their hypothesis the meteorologists point to areas of the world like West Africa and Northern Australia which don’t have coastal forests - where the climate becomes increasingly drier as you head inland. This is in stark contrast to the parts of the globe that have forestry running from the coast to the interior, where rainfall is consistent from the coast all the way inland.

With climatologists already concerned about the effects of deforestation on our planet, this news will further validate their fears. However, the good news is that by re-planting forests then these powerful woodland pumps can spread rainfall across our continents once again.

Sustainable Forestry investments such as those offered by Ecogen Investments in Malaysia and Sri Lanka are conducted in careful conjunction with the local governments. Land is leased to Oxigen Plantations who plant and manage Teak and Aquilaria trees, two woods predicted for high future demand. Investors receive waterfall returns over 4 years < 16 years, depending on when the trees are harvested, and investments can be made through the UK SIPP structure to give taxation benefits. With the progression of REDD projects in many dense forest countries such as Indonesia, many believe these forestry projects will be accepted by the CDM and so also yield profitable carbon credits for owners of Sustainable Forest projects such as this. After harvesting, new trees are planted, ensuring the forest is sustained.