May 02, 2023. 12Tree publishes its 2023 Sustainability Report Update.
We are delighted to release our 2023 Sustainability Update Report, which highlights important milestones such as certifying five of our farms for the Verra Certified Carbon Credits, as well as the formalisation of various sustainability policies and verification standards. The report moreover provides insights into our three key impact areas CLIMATE, COMMUNITY and BIODIVERSITY, exemplified by case studies of our farms.
Access the full report to gain insights about our key priorities and achievement in the past year – and to learn more about our ambitious sustainability aims for the year ahead.
March 16, 2023. 12Tree launches new the Impact Opportunities Fund fund in partnership with BayernInvest.
The new impact fund which BayernInvest is launching together with 12Tree , makes it possible for professional investors to invest in SUSTAINABLE and PROMISING agricultural projects in the European Mediterranean region.
The fund's investment strategy is systematically aligned with the EuropeanGreenDeal and the climate targets of the EU.
January 05, 2023. We invite you to the new 12Tree Technical Services webinars!
Don't miss the opportunity to learn more about Regenerative Agriculture with our experts.
The 12Tree Technical Services Team presents a series of webinars, sharing their experience and knowledge about the management of regenerative agriculture systems.
Click here to watch the recording and register for the upcoming webinar.
Training in the automatic irrigation controller.
Adrian Vargas giving indications about water quality and management.
October 22, 2022. 12Tree Training Session at Tafilalet, Morocco.
Adrian Vargas Obando, 12Tree Irrigation Specialist traveled to Morocco to facilitate training for the local farm operators of Africa Organics. The focus of the workshop was to strengthen knowledge about the best and most modern irrigation technologies, and the best ways to save water in order to produce in the most environmentally friendly and sustainable way.
“I was so kindly welcome in the projects, and our language differences were never a problem, we always found a way to communicate with all the personnel of the farm, and we ate all together at the same table, from the same Tajin. I learned a lot about the arid climates and how crops are grown there, I learn so much from the people there. We have a great local team, highly trained, multicultural, and diverse; this farm is on the way to big success! I loved my time in Morocco." - Adrian Vargas, Irrigation Specialist at 12Tree TST
July 08, 2022. 12Tree releases its 2022 Sustainability Report.
The 2022 Sustainability Report takes you on a journey through two extraordinary years of achievements and challenges. Rising to these challenges, 12Tree has codified a new sustainability framework categorised into our main three impact pillars CLIMATE, COMMUNITY and BIODIVERSITY.
Learn more about 12Tree’s transformative approach and principles in practice exemplified in a number of farm stories. Explore our progress in regenerative agriculture, the potential of investments in Nature Based Solutions (NBS) and gain many more exciting insights in the 2022 Sustainability Report.
July 01, 2022. 12Tree is pleased to launch its 12Tree Technical Services Team website.
The 12Tree Technical Services Team website introduces 12Tree’s team of technical specialists in water management, GIS, weed control, pest and disease control, data management, nutrition, canopy management, and yield projection.
The 12Tree Technical Services Team (TST) supports farm owners and managers in their transition to regenerative and precision agriculture. TST’s service portfolio is ranging from design and establishment to management services of regenerative farming systems.
Learn more about the 12Tree Technical Services Team.
Please subscribe to the 12Tree TST Newsletter to stay updated on new developments and practices.
Jun 09, 2022. Reshaping the future of cocoa with Mars Wrigley.
12Tree is proud to partner with Mars Wrigley and ECOM to achieve the Cocoa for Generations’ aim of building a modern and sustainable cocoa supply chain. The project will use agroforestry, precision agriculture and tailored irrigation systems to generate healthy, vibrant soil and sequester carbon on almost 3,000 hectares of degraded cattle pastureland, uniting 12Tree’s expertise in transforming land, ECOM’s experience of managing agricultural commodities in Latin America, and Mars Wrigley’s 30-plus years of research and innovation in cocoa agronomy.
An exclusive The Economist four-part story series will elaborate on Mars Wrigley’s promise to create a sustainable cocoa supply chain and to meaningfully improve the lives of cocoa farming families.
Read more in the first article of the series ‘Reshaping the future of cocoa’
Feb 08, 2022. Webinar on Tuesday, February 8th, 2022 at 12:00 PM EST — 1:00 PM EST.at the Yale Center for Business and the Environment: SCALING UP AGROFORESTRY for food, biodiversity, climate, & communities, with 12Tree Finance GmbH.
In this engaging webinar, 12Tree Chief Sustainability Officer Oliver Hanke and Sustainability Manager Vail Miller dive deep into 12Tree's environmental and social impact strategies for growing profitable agroforestry systems. The webinar episode will focus particularly on two topics:
(1) 12Tree’s thinking about off-take agreements / partnerships with food companies
(2) 12Tree’s approach to partnering with smallholders through their innovative “nucleus-plasma” model and joint ventures with farmer cooperatives.
Nov 02, 2021. 12Tree is proud to be among the 12 new members of the Natural Capital Investment Alliance ("NCIA") created by the Prince of Wales with the aim to mobilise more than USD 10 billion of private capital to reduce pressure on forestry, biodiversity and ecosystems by the end of 2022.
The NCIA aims to accelerate the development of Natural Capital as a mainstream investment theme and to engage the global USD 120 trillion investment management industry to mobilise this private capital efficiently and effectively for Natural Capital opportunities. By joining NCIA, 12Tree aims to strengthen investments in nature-based solutions as well as sustainable forestry and land management as a key factor for the realisation global decarbonisation goals.
June 28, 2021. 12Tree is delighted and proud to be honoured by Environmental Finance with the Environmental Fund of the Year Award.
12Tree was awarded the Environmental Fund of the Year Award by Environmental Finance, a news and analysis service to report on sustainable investment. The Jury praised 12Tree’s outstanding financial success and its real impact in the challenging agroforestry space.
"For us, this is a much appreciated recognition of the hard work that the entire team put in to develop a truly sustainable, deeply integrated and transformational asset manager that allows institutional investors to efficiently channel much needed capital into land restoration, carbon sequestration and sustainable rural development", Oliver Hanke, Chief Sustainability Officer at 12Tree Finance.
Sep 28, 2021. 12Tree partners with Mars and ECOM to pilot a modern cocoa agriculture project that helps shape the future of cocoa with climate-smart and regenerative practices and an inclusive community approach.
As a pioneer in the sustainable agroforestry sector, 12Tree specializes in identifying, structuring, financing, and managing agroforestry projects across Central and South America. 12Tree is unique both in terms of its strong operational experience and capabilities, as well as its business model predicated on driving impact in terms of reforestation, biodiversity, livelihoods, climate adaptation and carbon mitigation. By partnering with Mars Wrigley and ECOM, who each bring decades of experience researching and developing industry leading technologies and approaches to cocoa production and supply chain logistics, this climate-smart initiative will use modern cocoa agriculture to catalyse the development and testing of innovative approaches to sustainable cocoa production with an eye towards industry-wide scale.
June 01, 2021. 12Tree publishes its Sustainability Report Update 2021.
This report is all about last 12Tree’s progress, challenges and the path forward. Keeping in mind, that a lot remains to be done the report illustrates case studies of 12Tree’s farms to showcase that our efforts are bearing fruits.
Making more facts and figures available by constantly monitoring and evaluating our impact indicators 12Tree strives to live up to its ambition with great humility and transparency.
May 10, 2021. 12Tree was featured on The Regenerative Agroforestry Podcast.
In this episode 12Tree’s Sustainability Manager Oliver Hanke discusses the profitability and complexity of large scale agroforestry investments with Etienne Compagnon. Learn more about 12Tree’s largest project Finca Chimelb to understand its implementation and the role of small-scale farmers in 12Tree’s farms. This episode brings to the forefront some of the thought-provoking questions we face if agroforestry is to be deployed at scale.
November 10, 2020. 12Tree is proud to be a partner of the CIAT initiative “CLIMA-LoCa”.
CLIMA LoCa stands for fostering Climate-relevant and Low Cadmium innovations as well as research to enhance the inclusiveness of growing cocoa sectors in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.
The EU-funded Clima-LoCa project is conducting cadmium and climate adaption research to support the development, implementation and scaling of low cadmium and climate-relevant innovations that fit the diverse contexts of smallholder cocoa production. Since climate change and high levels of cadmium in the cacao beans are critical challenges for smallholder farmers to access the European markets and better prices, the research is a major step towards integrating small farmers into the global value chain of the cocoa industry.
WaNovember 03, 2020. Cuango was featured in the Global Ideas series by Deutsche Welle TV.
12Tree helps to save water by saving forests ins Panama.
Climate change and extensive logging are drying up waterways that feed the Panama Canal. Deforestation also destroys wetlands. 12Tree’s project Cuango is transforming a former cattle farm into a 1,500 hectares of degraded grasslands using a perennial agroforestry system with regenerative potential, while protecting 660 hectares of natural rainforests. Watch the current Deutsche Welle video report to learn more about 12Tree’s positive impacts in the area of Cuango:
January 8, 2020. 12Tree and CIAT (International Center for Tropical Agriculture) sign partnership agreement
12Tree will fund experimental sites in Hacienda Maquencal, Colombia to support the development, implementation and scaling of low cadmium and climate-relevant innovations as part of Clima-LoCa research project led by CIAT in three cacao producing countries of South America.
Clima-LoCa (CLIMAte-relevant and LOw CAdmium) is supported by the European Union’s DESIRA (Development-Smart Innovation through Research in Agriculture) initiative, and will develop a network of research trials and piloting sites across Colombia, Ecuador and Peru to foster innovations that enhance the resilience and inclusiveness of the cocoa sector in South America.
The involvement of 12Tree will multiply the number of trials, allowing the network to get more robust and context specific results and enhance impact to support cacao producers. Using Clima-LoCa designs and protocols, 12Tree will benefit from the results and dissemination products developed under the project.
September 30, 2019. Hacienda Ambrosia achieves organic certification
12Tree is proud to announce that Hacienda Ambrosia has achieved organic certification according to the EU’s organic regulation and USDA’s National Organic Program, making Ambrosia the largest organic coconut farm in America! Very soon the largest organic cacao farm, and once the pollinator system is fully implemented, the biggest Organic honey producing estate in the country, hosting a thriving bee population of over 60 million bees.
Ambrosia is a plus 2,000-hectare farm in the Dominican Republic inter-cropping coconuts with cocoa, with more than 30% of its total area set aside for conservation and a brand new irrigation system completely gravity driven, free from pumps in the main line.
April 14, 2020. 12Tree publishes its first sustainability report 2019/2020.
The report takes the reader through an exciting journey across 6 tropical countries of Central, South America and the Caribbean showcasing many examples of how agroforestry at large scale can transform agriculture.
Human, environmental and technological challenges are full of promise and open up a wealth of new horizons. With still a lot of room for growth and improvement, this report lays out an inspiring roadmap for the future and opens the door for new partnerships with like minded organizations, investors, interest groups, and research bodies. Take me to the report.
October 10, 2019. Platanera Rio Sixaola receives the Carbon Neutral award from Costa Rica's Ministry of Environment.
The farm has been certified carbon neutral for 10 years, being the first banana plantation to commit to carbon neutral operations in the country.
Platanera Rio Sixaola is a 300-ha farm located at the the south-eastern edge of Costa Rica and producing sustainable banana production for export to Germany with zero nematicide and herbicide application. It’s operations are certified with Rainforest Alliance, GlobalGAP, CO2 neutral, and Marca País Esencial Costa Rica. Additionally, 90 ha of the total area, are destined for conservation, with biological corridors connecting fragments of natural forests, which provide food and shelter for wildlife.
September 27, 2019. 12Tree launches its cocoa newsletter
12Tree cocoa is about producing the highest quality cocoa in a consistent way while providing a certified and traceable product from thriving agroforestry systems that benefit the local people, economy and nature.
In 3 years we have invested in more than 20,000 hectares of agroforests in 7 countries! Join our newsletter featuring the story of each origin, best agronomic and post-harvesting practices at the farms, available beans and volumes, everything related to sustainability, quality and traceability and of course, the people transforming the cocoa industry.