Deputy Managing Director, Indufor
I have worked in different expert positions at Indufor Helsinki since 1992 and currently I am Deputy Managing Director and Senior Partner. Indufor Group is one of the world’s leading forest consulting companies providing high-quality knowledge and services for clients over the forest and forest industry value chains as well as on wider landscapes covering other commodity supply chains. The Group has companies besides Helsinki, Finland; in Auckland, New Zealand; Melbourne, Australia and Washington D.C. in the US.
I hold a master degree in forest economics (M.Sc. For.) from the University of Helsinki (1988) and MBA from the Helsinki International School of Economics (2003). Before joining Indufor in 1992 I have worked in the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (1989-1992), University of Helsinki (1985-88) and the Finnish Forest Research Institute (1984).
I have solid background in forestry investment especially in emerging countries covering economic, financial and social analysis, risk assessment and overall strategic advice. I have been a team leader and advisor focusing on tropical forest plantations as well as boreal, temperate and tropical natural forests. Recently I have also been involved with other land use based value chains as part of food, textile and beverage industries. The clients comprise forest industry corporations, energy companies, agricultural commodity traders, forest funds, credit institutions, development banks, government institutions and international organizations.
I have lived in Brazil, Vietnam, Eastern Africa and Canada (over 7 years). In addition, I have worked shorter periods in several European, Latin American, Asian, Oceanian and African countries. I am fluent in Finnish, English, Spanish, Portuguese and Swedish.
Currently at Indufor I am leading a forest team comprising 12 experts. Our key assignments focus on forest, forest industry and energy related due diligence of investing and lending. The work covers normally technical, operational, financial, organizational, managerial, environmental and social issues. In addition, we help our clients in overall sustainable sourcing and management of land based supply chains.
Now, the most important due diligence assignments are multinational energy company’s investment in biomass based energy cogeneration in western Africa, significant International Development Finance Institutions forest loans in commercial plantation forestry in Asia and Africa (over EUR 400 million). In addition, our team has a project with IFC where we test Natural Capital Accounting Framework with Corporates depending on land based supply chains –in Rwanda, Indonesia and the Philippines. The aim is to assess such supply chains as coffee, tea and tourism impacts on land use, water and biodiversity; and inclusion in the standardized natural capital valuation. In addition, we have several other assignments related to sustainable wood and fiber sourcing and overall investment strategies.