FOREST MANAGEMENT AND DIVERSIFICATION
Creating Tomorrow’s Forests With the challenges faced by the forestry industry of rising costs and bottlenecks in planting projects, many businesses are looking at ways to diversify their core operations. Finding novel ways of expanding your business can enhance your existing model as well as bringing in additional revenue. One company that has branched out into a new area is Tomorrow’s Forests, who launched their new project ‘Creating Tomorrow’s Forests’ in 2020. Simone Webber
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omorrow’s Forests was started in 2014 by two tree planters who had been working in Canada and wanted to bring efficient Canadian tree planting processes back to the UK. From the outset the company was interested in innovative techniques, driving the tree planting industry forward, and exploring new technology. Due to issues of stagnant contracted prices for tree planting services, particularly in the forestry sector, the founders, Nick Hollingworth and Elisabeth Boivin made the decision to explore diversifying the core business. “We had always had a dream of finding a way to fund the creation of native woodland in the UK, with a real focus on restoring lost habitat and increasing biodiversity” Liz explains. “The first Coronavirus pandemic lockdown gave us the pause that we needed to plan out
how we could do this by harnessing business investment to fund forest creation”. Diversifying from the main business model was a risk, although the success of Tomorrow’s Forests and their expertise in planting and maintaining woodlands proved to be an excellent foundation. When Nick and Liz investigated the other organisations offering carbon offsetting and tree planting for businesses, it became apparent that the majority of trees were planted overseas in tropical forests, often in monoculture plantations of nonnative species. These plantations offered little value to local people and wildlife, and there was poor visibility for the businesses investing in them. The Creating Tomorrow’s Forests business model is based on ownership, transparency, and responsibility. Owning the
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land on which the trees are planted means that they can ensure the longevity of the forests that they create. It also means that they can design and manage the habitats precisely how they decide, based on scientific evidence to maximise benefits for people and wildlife. They can also allow access to the site, to engage people with the habitat and provide education, which fosters understanding of the need to protect nature. Nick explains “We really wanted to take our customers on the forest creation journey with us by providing regular updates on how the trees are growing. Because we plant and manage everything ourselves, we can ensure that everything is done to the highest standards possible”. The Creating Tomorrow’s Forests project is reliant on the tree planting services provided by the parent company, and the two op-
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