About - WWOTF:GS

Held: September 10-12, 2007
World Forestry Center
Portland, Oregon

Proceedings are now available for purchase

Digital Proceedings (over 500 pages): $150
Hard Copy (black & white, 250 pages) $150

Proceedings include presentations, agenda, speaker biographies, and attendee contact list.

note: Digital proceedings cannot be emailed as the file size is too large--it must be sent on CD.

The Hunt for Forestland Investments is Going Global

The forest ownership landscape in the U.S. is undergoing significant change as ownerships shift from vertically integrated timber companies, to institutional investors, such as pension funds, university endowments, insurance companies and charitable trusts. Over the last ten years, institutional investment in timberland has grown from just under $4 billion in 1995, to nearly $12 billion by 2003, fueled by high rates of return and the success of tax efficient vehicles such as REITs.

The stunning success of the timber investment phenomenon in the U.S. is now set to emerge on a more global scale, as land ownership, REITs and foreign investment reforms in emerging countries provide growing investment potential off shore. Geographic diversification, faster growing species, and cheaper timberland markets are driving investor interest in overseas timberlands. As the Wall Street Journal reports, “the money pouring into timber reflects a global hunt for higher returns as investment cash floods the world from many sources: pension funds, central banks, hedge funds, oil-rich nations and corporations."

The "Who Will Own the Forest?" Summit conferences organized by the World Forestry Center since 2003, have brought together leaders in the forest investment community to discuss the broad implications of shifting forest ownership. The third in this series, held in 2006, was the best attended Summit to date, and attracted a capacity crowd of over 300 forestry executives, investors and landowners.

In recognition of the growing globalization of forestland investing, we premiered a sister event to the “Who Will Own the Forest?” series to expand the focus to global timberland investments. “Investing Globally in Forestland” was the first in our new Who Will Own the Forest : Global Series. The event was held in Portland, Oregon on September 10-12, 2007 and was attended by 275 persons. This conference examined the potential benefits and challenges to investing in timberland and was directed both to investors in U.S. properties and to issues encountered by investors in acquiring offshore properties. To date the majority of institutional timberland investments have occurred in the U.S., where strong wood demand, political stability, abundant capital and favorable tax treatment entice investors. Increasingly, European and other offshore investors are looking at U.S. timberlands for part of their portfolios.

Held: September 10-12, 2007 World Forestry Center Portland, Oregon

Held: September 10-12, 2007
World Forestry Center
Portland, Oregon