There are 15 posts filed in Nicaragua (this is page 1 of 1).
EcoPlanet Bamboo, according to the company’s website, “is leading the industrialization of bamboo as a viable and environmentally attractive alternative fiber.” The company claims to have established bamboo plantations in Nicaragua, South Africa, and Ghana.
On 19 April 2018, a company called BAP Industries of Guatemala announced that it had signed a 10 year Bamboo Purchase Agreement with EcoPlanet Bamboo. Under the agreement, BAP Industries agreed to buy bamboo from EcoPlanet Bamboo’s plantations in Nicaragua.
A recent article by Angeli Mehta on the website Ethical Corporation reports on a “young company” called EcoPlanet Bamboo. Mehta writes that “EcoPlanet Bamboo is creating permanent jobs for communities.”
The EcoPlanet Bamboo investment saga continues its slow unravelling. In 2012, EcoPlanet Bamboo (UK) Ltd sold “bamboo bonds” to retail investors (promising returns of up to 895%!).
EcoPlanet Bamboo is a US-based company that has established bamboo plantations in Nicaragua, South Africa and Ghana. Here’s how the company describes itself on its website:
EcoPlanet Bamboo is an innovative forestry company focused on integrated bamboo plantations and associated processing. We focus on the provision of a secure and certified source of fiber for timber manufacturing industries and markets globally. We currently operate in Central America, Southern and West Africa.
At the beginning of December 2015, Troy Wiseman was in Paris. The CEO and co-founder of EcoPlanet Bamboo was there as part of the Nicaraguan government delegation to COP 21, the UN climate change negotiations. Wiseman’s Paris trip came just a few days before Wiseman wrote to the people unfortunate enough to have invested in his company’s “Bamboo bonds” to let them know that their investment had gone pear-shaped.
The Eco Resources Fund was launched in July 2012 in the Isle of Man. Via a special purpose vehicle called ERF Limited, the Fund invested in bamboo plantations in Nicaragua and South Africa. The bamboo plantations are run by EcoPlanet Bamboo.
Property Frontiers is an Oxford-based investment firm. According to the company’s website, Property Frontiers is “an investment company with a reputation for offering the best-performing international property and alternative investments to both first time and experienced investors”.
EcoPlanet Bamboo runs bamboo plantations in Nicaragua, South Africa and Ghana. A UK company called EcoPlanet Bamboo (UK) Ltd sold “bamboo bonds” with a promise of “a 500% return on investment over a 15 year period” on an investment of US$50,000. But in December 2015, EcoPlanet Bamboo wrote to bondholders to tell them that their investment was not doing particularly well.
The EcoPlanet Bamboo story took a strange turn last week when EcoPlanet Bamboo responded to the posts on REDD-Monitor about the company’s investment scheme in “bamboo bonds”. First we’ll look at the story so far, followed by EcoPlanet Bamboo’s ad hominem response.
A company called EcoPlanet Bamboo (UK) Ltd launched a “bamboo bond” in 2011. Investors were encouraged to hand over their money, which would be used to establish bamboo plantation in Nicaragua.
Camille Rebelo, one of the co-founders of EcoPlanet Bamboo, claimed that an investment of US$50,000 would see a return of 500% over 15 years. “It’s a guaranteed return to the investor”, she said.
A 2012 brochure from a company called Ecobamboo Lot makes investing in bamboo look very promising: “A rare opportunity to purchase a Deeded Bamboo Lot in Central America.” The company promised a return of 26% a year: “Bamboo lot owners will receive harvest income starting at year four. The ROI is forecasted at 26% per annual year.” And Ecobamboo Lot plays the green card: “With its exceptional green credentials and high productivity, bamboo is set to become the sustainable timber source of the future.”
In 2011 and 2012, a company called EcoPlanet Bamboo (UK) Ltd raised US$12 million by issuing bamboo bonds. The companies marketing the bonds, including Property Frontiers, EcoInvestments, and Emerald Knight promised returns of 500% over a 15 year investment period.
This month’s World Rainforest Movement Bulletin includes an article about REDD in Central America, written by Henry Picado (Red de Coordinación en Biodiversidad), Zuiri Méndez (Kioscos Ambientales), and Mariana Porras (Coecoceiba Amigos de La Tierra).
On Tuesday, 3 April 2012, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a programme about a company called EcoPlanet Bamboo. The company was establishing a bamboo plantation in Rama, Nicaragua, part-funded by “the world’s first bamboo bond”.
