Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)
Forests as Natural Infrastructure: Building a Portfolio Approach for Risk, Return, and Resilience
The Nature Hub @CWNYC2025
Tuesday 23rd September 2025
12:00 - 13:00 (EDT), New York City (US)
To explore how different forest finance tools—REDD+, restoration, and new mechanisms like HIFOR and TFFF—can work together to form a high-impact, diversified portfolio that mitigates climate risk, delivers measurable returns, and sustains the planet’s most critical natural infrastructure. The session will highlight real-world examples and emerging instruments that move beyond carbon to value forests for water, biodiversity, and stability in supply chains.
Speakers
- Daniel Zarin, Executive Director, Forests and Climate Change, The Wildlife Conservation Society
- Edwina McKechnie, Executive Vice President, Corporate Engagement, Emergent
- Garo Batmanian, General Director of the Brazilian Forest Service and the TFFF lead for Brazil, Government of Brazil
- Mark Wishnie, Chief Sustainability Officer, BTG Pactual Timberland Investment Group