Tuesday 11 September 2012

Have you ever considered the potential of an investment creating a Legacy?


Have you ever considered the potential of an investment creating a Legacy? Obviously most people’s understanding of “legacy” is to provide financial security for their heirs. The simple meaning of legacy refers to “the lasting effects an event leaves behind after it’s finished“. An investment legacy could have the potential of benefiting more than the pursuit of profit or the provision of inheritance.
Therefore, would you consider an investment legacy that provides an investment return but also provides for the environment in which present and future generations will live?
Investing in timber can provide a safeguard to our established eco-systems by creating more forests and more trees. Trees help create a healthy atmosphere, reduce the impact of climate change and provide important habitats for communities and wildlife. Creating forestry plantations and tree farms, via investment, can help relieve the pressure on our already depleted old forest stocks of timber and wood.
Importantly, it is also creating a healthy return for your money, providing a financial legacy perhaps for retirement or for other financial goals, such as inheritance.
What it means for the environment is potentially a whole lot more.
Educating a Future Generation.
As the demand for timber grows at an unprecedented rate, so does the illegal logging trade. By investing in sustainable forests you are helping to meet these demands and in turn reduce the destructive need for such illegal wood. Protection of our most vulnerable eco-systems is consistently more important with each passing year. Within many rainforests, illegal logging is the norm and results in the destruction of around one and a half acres of forest every second. As governments begin to realise the benefits of sustainable plantations, this illegal trade will eventually be driven out and communities and industry will be educated in good and effective forest management.
Green Legacies
Should you invest in timber, you might wonder what happens once trees are harvested and your investment reaches maturity. Well you have the option to extend your investment period which will in turn generate more profit or ultimately your trees will be harvested and the investment closed. What happens to the land does differ with every plantation but the usual outcome is that it is re-planted, so the forest is replenished and ready to begin the cycle all over again.
Timber plantations are recognised as contributing to the economy of that country. By planting new tree farms it can protect that countries existing forest status. Many forestry plantations are placed within a forest easement trust which protects them from conversion into other uses. Such trusts may prohibit the landowner from engaging in any activity that could damage the forest whilst encouraging good forestry practices.
This may result in the land continually being used to provide sustainable timber whilst ensuring that existing wildlife habitats are protected and new biodiversity can be established. So not only will your legacy help to protect an area of forest or even rainforest but it will also ensure a regular and sustainable contribution to the local economy.
So just one investment in timber production could leave behind a legacy that in some way benefits many in many different ways.

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