February 22, 2024

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Global investment manager of nature-based real asset and natural capital strategies New Forests announced that the first investment made through its Tropical Asia Forest Fund 2 (TAFF2) is in a project to conserve and restore the Kuan Kreng Landscape (KKL) in Thailand – the country’s second largest peat swamp forest area.

It is due to the support of TAFF2 investors – including Mitsui, Nomura, Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Australian government, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank (SuMi TRUST), TotalEnergies, and GenZero, a Temasek-owned investment platform company focused on global decarbonization – that makes this investment possible. 

With an area of 70,715 hectares spanning the three provinces of Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phatthalung, and Songkhla in southern Thailand, the swamp forest supports more than 60,000 people who depend on fishing and other non-timber forest products for sustenance and their livelihood.

Two-thirds of this area is unfortunately degraded due to drainage canal networks associated with agricultural land use, resulting in the lowering of water tables and the release of greenhouse gas emissions from peat oxidation. Additionally, fires are contributing to transboundary haze that reduces air quality for local communities and more urban areas such as Bangkok. 

“KKL is one of Thailand’s largest peatland forest areas with rich flora and fauna and is home to species who are important on a global scale,” said Geoffrey Seeto, managing director, New Forests Asia. 

“Implementing impact activities related to climate change, support for communities and rural livelihoods, and protection and enhancement of biodiversity are in alignment with TAFF2’s impact objectives and our investors’ desire to invest in activities that have a positive impact on the environment and communities.”

New Forests has established Restore Nature (Thailand), a local entity that works in conjunction with the Thai government and community groups to design and implement a project to raise the ground water table in select areas through the construction of semi-permanent canal blocks for the restoration of degraded peatland.

Further, the project will pursue revegetation and enrichment planting to create biodiversity corridors to support the distribution of flora and fauna, and will integrate a fire management program that will be a key aspect to the overall project. 

Restore Nature (Thailand) will then design and launch a carbon project to protect and restore degraded peatland and peat swamp forest in the KKL, improving biodiversity and enhancing the livelihoods of those in the local communities. Approximately 40 percent of the KKL has been deemed suitable for such a project, and according to estimations, has the potential to generate 500,000 carbon credits per year, on average. 

Restore Nature is supported by RECOFTC, an international non-profit working to support resilient communities and sustainable and equitable forest landscapes. It also is supported by a team of international and local consultants, and is undertaking this project along with the Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation and other relevant organizations. 

The Restoration Seed Capital Facility (RSCF) is also providing support to TAFF2 for the development of the project, and Restore Nature, RECOFTC, and its consultants will collaborate with the relevant government authorities and communities to ensure the project’s success. 

Chalita Forgotson, country manager, Restore Nature (Thailand), commented, “Nature underpins our communities and our culture with this iconic peatland providing food, shelter, and livelihoods for the many people that live in and around it. We’re excited to partner with like-minded organizations to protect and restore this important part of Thailand’s natural environment.”

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor in chief with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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