February 25, 2016, Vancouver, British Columbia: NatureBank Asset Management Inc. (the “Company”) (TSX-V: COO, Frankfurt:9EA) is pleased to announce a forum taking place in Cairo Egypt on Sunday February 28, 2016. Entitled “Opportunities and Prospects of Afforestation in Egypt and its Role in the New Reclamation Project of 1.5 million Acres”, the forum is sponsored by the German Science Centre (“DWZ”), ForestFinance Service GmbH (“ForestFinance”) and Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (“GIZ”), and organized by the Technical University of Munich (“TUM”) Cairo Office.
The purpose of the forum is to present the investment potential and commercialization opportunity for desert afforestation in arid regions to high-ranking Egyptian and German politicians, businesspeople, investors, industry and scientists. The forum will look at how a systemic re-orientation of resource management, supported by a political and international scientific-economic collaboration, can enhance the long-term social, economical and environmental sustainability of a region.
NatureBank’s subsidiary company, Forest Finest Consulting, has explored and developed business models for afforestation and subsequent value chains for arid regions under a project called DesertTimber®, supported by the GIZ. The development partnership is part of the develoPPP.de program that GIZ implements on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (“BMZ”). NatureBank is interested in developing largescale DesertTimber projects for their agro-forestry portfolio.
The DesertTimber® afforestation program is an innovative approach to harnessing the subtropical desert potential in arid regions such as the Sahara in Northern Africa and the Arabian Desert in the Arabian Peninsula (areas measuring more than 10.4 million km2). While subtropical deserts offer plenty of unutilised lands and abundant sunlight, they lack adequate precipitation. Under this program, unused wastewater, created by an Egyptian population of over 90 million people, is used as a feedstock for the afforestation programs. Using basic-treated sewage water retains the value of both the water and the existing nutrients to nourish multiple-species of timber and plant. These trees and plant then provide socio-economic value to the region. Research has revealed that the available resources including unutilised desert lands, sunlight, sewage water and the nutrients contained therein, are of very high potential and lend themselves to the establishment of large-scale forest plantations of different tree species in the desert lands of Egypt. Research also found that the average yield achieved after 60 years for all tree species in Germany can be attained in just one quarter of this period in Egypt (15 years).
“Establishing new forests in arid regions such as these not only serve as large permanent carbon sinks, but also provide a source of timber, biomass and agro-commodity supply, ranging from oils to bio-diesel,” commented Dirk Walterspacher, CEO of Forest Finest Consulting. “We are excited to present our findings and share the immense opportunities for reclamation of these underutilized areas to the leadership of Egypt and Germany.”
To learn more about Desert Timber, you are encouraged to visit:
http://www.forestfinestconsulting.com/our-services/arid-areas/.
James Tansey, Ph.D.
President and CEO
NatureBank Asset Management Inc.
About NatureBank Asset Management Inc.
NatureBank is an internationally diversified carbon management and agroforestry solutions company. With offices in Vancouver, British Columbia and Portland Oregon, Bonn Germany and satellite offices in Panama and Vietnam, its team of industry leaders specialize in the origination, development and commercialization of high-quality agroforestry and carbon offset projects, in addition to offering a comprehensive suite of sustainability consultancy services. Through NatureBank advisory services group Offsetters and German based CO2OL, the company helps organizations understand, reduce and offset their climate impact. NatureBank has worked with over 200 leading business organizations including Aimia, Vancity, lululemon athletica, Catalyst Paper, Harbour Air, HSE – Entega, and Shell Canada Limited. NatureBank is publicly listed company on the Toronto Venture Exchange (TSX-V:COO) and in Frankfurt:9EA. For more information, please visit us at www.NatureBank.com.
For further information, please contact:
David Rokoss
NatureBank Asset Management Inc.
Suite 1000 – 675 West Hastings Street,
Vancouver BC, V6B 1M8
Telephone: 778-945-0951
Email: david.rokoss@NatureBank.com
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