Rimba Collective Progress Report
15 Oct 2024 - Report
Hello, and welcome to the first Rimba Collective Progress Report. I am proud to say that since becoming live and operational in 2022, we have become one of the largest conservation financing mechanisms in the world.
In just two years, we have supported 16 projects, financed more than 220,000 hectares of landscape and channelled $USD 14 million into active forest conservation and restoration. We are also fully subscribed to scale to 550,000 hectares, which is an outcome we aim to deliver by 2026. If we engage enough new partners before then, our coverage could grow to 1 million hectares over the next three years.
I am immensely proud of our remarkable collective effort so far, and we have much more to look forward to.
It is a timely moment to take stock. 2025 will be the first year that companies must apply the rules set out in the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). With this regulation and the other converging sustainability reporting and action requirements, boardrooms around the world are taking note. Leading corporations everywhere know they need to act, seize nature and climate opportunities, and demonstrate to their stakeholders the positive impact their companies can generate.
Multinational corporations whose greatest nature and climate impact lies upstream, with the sourcing, processing and trading of agricultural commodities, must now put nature-based solutions like the Rimba Collective centre‑stage in their sustainability strategies. Nature-based solutions are the only way to deliver holistically against new and myriad impact measures across biodiversity, communities and ecosystems. They are also reframing the possibilities of what sustainability investment can deliver to shareholders and stakeholders.
We are seeing the risks of not investing in nature-based solutions all around us. Civil society is pursuing strategic litigation against those not taking action on their impacts, regulators are developing ever more comprehensive impact reporting requirements, and investors see Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) as a key risk to their capital. In the new normal, corporate sustainability is no longer just a reputational concern; it is a financial and legal risk, requiring board‑level focus.
In just two years, we have supported 16 projects, financed more than 220,000 hectares of landscape and channelled $USD 14 million into active forest conservation and restoration. We are also fully subscribed to scale to 550,000 hectares, which is an outcome we aim to deliver by 2026. If we engage enough new partners before then, our coverage could grow to 1 million hectares over the next three years.
I am immensely proud of our remarkable collective effort so far, and we have much more to look forward to.
It is a timely moment to take stock. 2025 will be the first year that companies must apply the rules set out in the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). With this regulation and the other converging sustainability reporting and action requirements, boardrooms around the world are taking note. Leading corporations everywhere know they need to act, seize nature and climate opportunities, and demonstrate to their stakeholders the positive impact their companies can generate.
Multinational corporations whose greatest nature and climate impact lies upstream, with the sourcing, processing and trading of agricultural commodities, must now put nature-based solutions like the Rimba Collective centre‑stage in their sustainability strategies. Nature-based solutions are the only way to deliver holistically against new and myriad impact measures across biodiversity, communities and ecosystems. They are also reframing the possibilities of what sustainability investment can deliver to shareholders and stakeholders.
We are seeing the risks of not investing in nature-based solutions all around us. Civil society is pursuing strategic litigation against those not taking action on their impacts, regulators are developing ever more comprehensive impact reporting requirements, and investors see Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) as a key risk to their capital. In the new normal, corporate sustainability is no longer just a reputational concern; it is a financial and legal risk, requiring board‑level focus.
I am immensely proud of our remarkable collective effort so far, and we have much more to look forward to.
Michal
Zrust
The stakes are high, but the solutions are ready. Companies must now engage in a suite of interventions that positively impact areas both inside and outside their value chains. Rimba Collective partners are leading the way towards minimising and rehabilitating the impact of commodities within their value chain areas. At the same time, many of our first 16 project areas lie outside but adjacent to some of the world’s most densely harvested palm oil‑sourcing landscapes.
These areas outside value chains are where the world’s remaining intact forests and biodiversity lie. From the beginning of 2022 until June 2024, we secured the protection and restoration of hundreds of thousands of forest hectares in these richly biodiverse – but often highly degraded – areas. In doing so, we have prevented damaged landscapes from encroaching on our partners’ value chains and delivered positive ecosystem benefits at scale.
We are only at the beginning of our journey. In the last two years, we have planted the first seeds that robust and healthy ecosystems need to grow. We know that short‑term, financially limited conservation programmes fall short of the effort required to meet the great climate and biodiversity challenges we all face. So, our model is based on a 25‑year‑plus timescale designed to secure forest preservation funding for generations to come.
In the following pages, you can read more about the incredible collective efforts of the Rimba Collective partners to conserve forests, preserve biodiversity and support communities. You will see how we deliver integrity over and above industry standards and secure long‑term outcomes for nature through both claimable and non‑claimable activities.
We also have some wonderful stories to share, from two women leading their community’s transition to sustainable economies to a more harmonious future for the relationship between elephants and local farmers.
I am incredibly appreciative of our growing Rimba Collective – the commitment of our corporate partners, the dedication of our project operators, the expert application of our team at Lestari Capital, and the active participation of forest‑frontier community members we work with. Every day, we learn more, find new ways to innovate, enhance the projects we finance, and discover better ways to support nature and communities.
I hope you enjoy reading about these significant first steps on a long, fruitful road ahead.
Mike Zrust
Founder and Chief Executive, Lestari Capital.
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