Agrocortex: Best REDD Expert Latin America 2020
Forests are the lungs of planet Earth, and reducing emissions from deforestation and natural degradation is a primary target of the United Nations. Agrocortex provides forestry management solutions that can offset global carbon emissions, regulate regional rainfall and reduce flooding risks. They protect biodiversity while providing landowners with income options that safeguard the environment. Agrocortex estimates its REDD project — the UN-backed Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation — has saved around 5,300 hectares of Amazonian rainforest from logging between 2014 and 2019. It is one of the few forest projects in the world that aligns sustainability with the concept of the “triple bottom line”. Agrocortex manages a socially just, environmentally responsible and economically profitable operation. The project area covers some 190,000 hectares in the south-western region of the Amazon. The company divides that into 30 management units of 5,860 hectares, and limits extraction operation to just three percent of the forest each year. The remaining 97 percent is designated a conservation zone. Agrocortex has earned the support of international shareholders, who appreciate its solid corporate structure, exemplary governance, and long-term environmental and community commitments. Agrocortex hopes to serve as inspiration for other companies and landowners fighting climate change and contributing to socio-economic inclusion. The CFI.co judging panel was impressed, and announces Agrocortex as winner of the 2020 Best REDD Expert (Latin America) award.