Green Resources is a plantation, carbon offset, forest products and renewable energy company. The company was established in 1995 and is a private Norwegian company with 80 shareholders. It employes more than 3,600 people and has invested USD 120mn in its African operations since its inception. Green Resources mainly operates in Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda, with a small operation in Southern Sudan.
It is Africa’s leading forestation company and has 25,000 ha of forest. It is growing trees to generate carbon credits and bioenergy and to manufacture wood products. Green Resources has probably planted more new trees than any other private company in Africa during the past ten years; a record 5,600 ha of new forest was planted in 2011. In addition, the company holds more than 300,000 ha of land for future planting and conservation. The company is establishing two world-scale forest plantations in Mozambique and Tanzania. It started the first small harvest from its own forest in 2008.
Green Resources’ carbon credit projects include forestation and bioenergy. It is a leader in forestry-derived greenhouse gas emission reductions, having registered the world’s first forestry project based on the voluntary carbon standard (VCS) in 2009 and sold the first issued credits in 2010. All Green Resources’ forestry-derived carbon offset revenues will be reinvested in the countries where they were generated and 10% will be used for community developments, making the credits some of the most attractive in the world.
Green Resources’ industrial operation, Sao Hill Industries, is East Africa’s largest sawmill and the largest electricity pole plant in the region; it also has joinery and charcoal plants and have several sales branches throughout Tanzania. It also operates an electricity pole plant in Uganda. The industrial operations generated USD 12mn of revenues in 2011.
Green Resources’ strategy is based on sustainable development of the areas in which it operates. The company believes that forestation is one of the most efficient ways of developing and improving social and economic conditions for people in rural areas. Green Resources aims to be the preferred partner for local communities in these areas. It also wants to be the favoured African employer within its industry.
Green Resources aims to follow the highest international environmental standards by conserving natural forest and other valuable habitats. Green Resources Limited (GRL) the Tanzania plantation company, now has three of its forests certified according to the Forest Stewardship Council® standard, the world’s leading standard for environmental and sustainable forest management. The company aim to certify all its forests according to these standards. As part of this policy, the company only harvests plantation forest, for the moment is planting at least ten new trees for every one tree that it harvests, and only plants on grassland or degraded forestland.