MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Amazonas Florestal, Ltd. (OTCPK: AZFL), a diversified forest management company generating profit through innovative, sustainable forest management, today released a letter from President & CEO Michael Ibar to its shareholders:
OUR MISSION
Amazonas Florestal is positioned to be an industry leader in Sustainable Forest Management, generating profit while protecting the biodiversity of the rain forest ecosystem and enhancing the lives of the people who live in it.
Sustainability, as a commitment, is the foundation of Amazonas Florestal’s goals and responsibilities. From day one, our strategy has dictated a balance between consumption and conservation, environment and economics, profits and people — this is how we position ourselves as industry innovators and our business model as the only viable, responsible way forward.
Simply put, wood is the most consumed raw material on earth. From the chair I am sitting on to the paper this letter gets printed on, it all comes from Trees. At the same time, the health and survival of our forests are, for reasons economic, political, and climatological, of paramount importance. On the surface these issues seem to be diametrically opposed to one another, however when you accept as a principle, the reality and merits of each side of this dilemma, you realize that they are inherently contingent on each other’s success. This therefore provides an incredible opportunity, if, you can solve the problem.
While wood is one of the most consumed resources on earth, it’s also one of the most renewable resources on earth. When managed properly, a forest provides timber, but more importantly, it also offers sustainable solutions:
- Selective and cyclical harvesting provides environmental sustainability by ensuring that the forest maintains its integrity permanently in both quantity and quality.
- Bio-mass derived from harvests and production waste can be efficiently turned into a clean energy source and provided to the local communities that, in many of these remote areas, have no access to a sustainable energy source. Emissions from this energy generation are sustainably absorbed by the very forest that creates it.
- Timber harvests, wood product production, and clean energy generation provide economic sustainability and stability through the jobs and incomes they provide to the local inhabitants and the revenues they provide to the owners of the forest land. These revenues can then be used to conserve, quantify, monitor, and avoid the devastating deforestation occurring in these regions.
- In turn, this conservation is monetized through Carbon Credits. The value and mechanisms within these Carbon Credit programs exist to further enhance the sustainability of the entire forest ecosystem.
This Enhanced Sustainable Forest Management (ESFM) or, as we like to call it, from Tree to Trees is illustrated in our graphic.
OUR HISTORY
Amazonas Florestal is a forest management company with land holdings in the Brazilian Rainforest. The Amazonas vision and mandate was created by and between me (Michael Ibar) and Ricardo Cortez, both entrepreneurs based out of Miami, FL, and both with decades of family history and experience in the South American and overall timber industries. Our objective was to purchase and manage large tracts of rainforest property that we had targeted for sustainable harvesting of natural resources and long-term conservation. We acquired approximately 90,000 continuous acres (or 141 square miles) of Virgin Primary Rainforest Land located in the Brazilian State of Amazonas. This tract of land, known as Fazenda Jatuarana, was purchased from Amazonas, Industria, Comercio e Exportação de Produtos de Madeira, Ltda (“AICEM”) and its principal, Reny de Oliveira.
Mrs. de Oliveira and her immediate family own controlling interest in over 300,000 hectares (over 750,000 acres) of rainforest land in the State of Amazonas, Brazil. Mrs. De Oliveira is the head of a family that dates back over five decades in ownership. From the beginning, the family has shown dedication to forest management and to partnership with the indigenous communities, forest experts, timber producers, and the governmental and environmental agencies that regulate this rural forest region.
The Land and Timber contained within Fazenda Jatuarana was commercially appraised in 2010 at over $46,000,000.00 by EB da Amazonia, credentialed through Banco do Brazil. The company also acquired two approved Sustainable Forest Management Plans for the licensed harvest of over 14,000 cubic meters of Timber. The company then negotiated and closed a purchase order for the sale $1,320,000.00 worth of railroad “Sleepers” (aka Railroad Ties) to a UK railroad supply company. After an initial on-site quality control inspection, from the UK client, which demonstrated, our ability to produce the client’s product to spec and within their tolerance limits, we began to fulfill this order for our customer and generated our first revenues in late 2011. These processes were critical to the company’s development, to work out all the logistical and production kinks before embarking on the future and larger scale, harvesting and production of the company’s inventories of Timber.
MILESTONES
In the last two years the Company has achieved the following important milestones:
- Acquired over 90,000 acres of virgin Brazilian rainforest lands (Fazenda Jatuarana).
- Had Fazenda Jatuarana legalized, geo-referenced, and appraised.
- Purchased two approved Sustainable Forest Management Plans for the licensed harvesting of over 14,000 cubic meters of Merchantable Timber.
- Had these assets booked, verified, and audited, with a value of over $47,000,000.
- Closed a $1,320,000 purchase order for wood products.
- Began production and passed initial on-site quality control inspection from client.
- Generated revenues through said production.
- Entered the public markets and significantly expanded our shareholder base.
The most critical milestones for Amazonas Florestal to achieve in the next 12-18 months are:
- Raise sufficient capital to harvest from our own timber inventories.
- Procure additional substantial and diverse wood product orders.
- With a larger-scale operation, generate over $5,000,000 in revenues.
- Develop, submit, and garner approval on an additional four Sustainable Forest Management Plans on Fazenda Jatuarana for the harvesting of 80,000 cubic meters two years from now.
- Acquire another large tract of Rainforest Land with a minimum size of 50,000 acres.
- Complete a feasibility study for the development of a clean energy project using Bio- Mass as a fuel feed stock.
- Develop a strategic partnership with an industry leader for the formulation of a large scale R.E.D.D. (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) project.
CLOSING REMARKS
In closing, I am tremendously excited about the opportunities that lie before us. It has been a long road, but we have made fantastic progress and are poised to grow exponentially. I feel, as does the rest of our management team, that it is our personal responsibility as stewards of the forests we own to manage them responsibly, sustainably, and beneficially to all. I strongly believe that with your continued support we will be able to do our part to preserve and protect the environment and enhance the living conditions of many, all while delivering both monetary and ecological value to our shareholders. I am focused and inspired by the great people with whom I have the privilege of working and will work tirelessly to lead this company to great success.
Sincerest Regards,
Michael Ibar
Chief Executive Officer
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50469258&lang=en