Investing in Regenerative Agriculture and Food

364 Paul McMahon - Why regen forestry is natural capital’s Trojan horse for institutional investors

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May 6, 2025

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A conversation with Paul McMahon, co-founder SLM partners, about forestry being the gateway drug for natural capital for institutional investors to put money to work. Why? Because they are used to investing in forestry — it is a well-established investment sector with very long-time horizons. Rotations here are 30+ years, but it’s also one with many challenges: current practices usually mean cutting down a forest after 30 years and completely replanting it. That basically scars a landscape for life — mostly monocultures.

Interestingly, alternatives have been popping up over the last few decades. Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF), where you selectively harvest and let natural processes do most of the work, requires highly skilled foresters, but it can deliver superior returns alongside all the environmental benefits. These are production forests you want to be in — and forest bathe in. Now that a lot of academic research is emerging about carbon levels, returns, etc., the time might be right for more money to flow into it.

More about this episode on https://investinginregenerativeagriculture.com/paul-mcmahon-4.

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In Investing in Regenerative Agriculture and Food podcast show we talk to the pioneers in the regenerative food and agriculture space to learn more on how to put our money to work to regenerate soil, people, local communities and ecosystems while making an appropriate and fair return. Hosted by Koen van Seijen.

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