Miro Forestry Developments Limited

• Support employment creation on plantations and in wood processing facilities.
• Support environmental sustainability through: (1) carbon sequestration through tree planting on degraded land; (2) protecting natural forests by providing an alternative, more sustainable source of local timber; (3) protecting indigenous forests in and around Miro's landholding.

Sierra Leone and Ghana

Majority of the workforce is low/unskilled (~90 per cent), mostly rural, ~18 per cent female. There are limited formal employment opportunities exist in the areas where Miro operates.

Climate benefits globally, and natural forests locally.

From 2001 to 2021, Sierra Leone lost 1.82 million hectares of tree cover, equivalent to a 32 per cent decrease in tree cover since 2000, and 867 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. In the same period, Ghana lost 1.41 million hectares of tree cover, equivalent to a 20 per cent decrease in tree cover since 2000, and 740 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent.

Employees: Miro anticipates to employ over 5,000 people by 2030.

• Employees (duration): The impact will be sustained long-term (more than 10 years).
• Employees (depth): Miro pays its low-skilled staff approximately over 50 per cent more than national minimum wages.
• Planet (duration): The impact will be sustained long-term (more than 10 years)
• Planet (depth): Miro is one of the largest plantation forestry players in West Africa with around 20,000 hectares planted today and 30,000 hectares by 2030. At least 10 per cent will be kept under conservation (an FSC requirement). The company estimates that its forests will cumulatively sequester approximately 4 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent over the course of the business plan.

• Financial additionality: Capital is not offered in sufficient quantity.
• Value additionality: We have provided significant environmental and social support since 2015, including in obtaining FSC certification. Our technical assistance programme, BII Plus, has also provided technical assistance for a plywood market study to inform the business plan in 2019.
• Mobilisation: We have helped to mobilise capital from a mix of DFIs and private investors.

Execution Risk

• the realisation of the impact outlined depends on the successful execution of the business plan. Sustainable plantation forestry is still a nascent sector in Africa (especially outside South Africa) which brings inherent risks. This is demonstrated by the lack of success stories at scale within the sector.