World Tree

World Tree has created a completely new approach to forestry. Using climate-smart agriculture, our carefully selected tree species produce quality hardwood in only 10 years - a fraction of the time it takes other trees to grow. 

Thanks to the support of our WeFunder community, World Tree has already planted over 5000 acres of Empress trees with more than 300 farmers. Our trees are thriving and we are on track to meet our investment targets of at least 4x return. Equally important, we are improving the lives of farmers, restoring the soil, cleaning the air and protecting our forests.

We are now open for investment in our 2022 Eco-Tree Program. Every $4000 funds one acre of fast-growing Empress trees with our network of farmers. These trees will be harvested in approximately 10 years, with profits shared between World Tree, our farmers and investors. Investors receive a 25% pro-rata share of profits from all growing regions.

Wood consumption is on the rise, but supplies are diminishing.

Global demand for timber is predicted to quadruple by 2050. With 30% of the world’s trees already on the verge of extinction, finding a sustainable supply is a huge issue. If we don’t change our approach to forestry now, we will lose even more of our native forests and continue a downward spiral of deforestation, loss of biodiversity and important carbon sinks.

World Tree has a solution. Our managed tree farms produce a beautiful versatile hardwood called Empress Splendor. This blonde lumber is strong yet light, does not warp or rot and is a fantastic replacement for cedar, ash, balsa and other commonly used at-risk tree species.

The Empress Splendor (Paulownia elongata & fortunei) is an extremely fast-growing hardwood tree that reaches maturity in just 10 years. In the time it takes to harvest and grow a pine tree, the Empress will produce 3 harvests.

The Empress is a natural beauty, non-GMO and non-invasive. The massive, heart-shaped leaves absorb huge amounts of carbon to power its extraordinary growth.

After harvest, the Empress regenerates from the stump – without replanting. The strong, healthy root system produces vigorous new growth, which with proper pruning will quickly develop into a new tree multiple times over, creating a truly sustainable source of lumber for generations to come.

Every year we bring together a new group of farmers and investors. Our investors provide the funding, our farmers grow the trees and World Tree’s team of foresters manage the entire operation.

For every $4,000 invested in this offering we will plant 1 acre of Empress trees. The trees are planted across dozens of farm locations in the United States, Mexico, Guatemala and Costa Rica. This way we can diversify risk and maximize impact.

This is our third year of bringing Wefunder investors into the program. Each cohort of investors participates in a completely different and distinct crop of Empress trees.

Together we are fulfilling our goal of growing big, beautiful Empress trees that guzzle up carbon and can be harvested for eco-lumber.

Empress trees produce a beautiful blonde, straight-grained hardwood. As light as balsa, as strong as pine, and water resistant, it is known as the "aluminum of lumber" due to its high strength-to-weight ratio.

The wood can be used for furniture, window blinds, veneers, musical instruments, surfboards, and more. Architects have begun using Empress in green buildings as a finishing wood due to its high insulating qualities.

World Tree offers our investors a clear exit upon harvest (8-12 years), with anticipated returns of up to 4x your investment. Profits will be distributed when the trees are harvested and sold in 8-12 years. Farmers receive 50%, Investors 25% and World Tree 25%.

Returns depend on the volume and quality of lumber produced. In practice, we expect our farms to produce a mix of low, medium, and high-grade lumber and we are currently modelling a blended average price of $6/BF.

The graph below shows the potential return on a 1-acre investment based on tree survival of 75%.

We’re dealing with Mother Nature and that means crop failure is a significant risk factor. For instance, a farm may fail due to severe weather and/or pests. It may also fail because a farmer is unable to care for the trees.

To protect your investment, we plant the trees across dozens of farms many thousands of miles apart. If anything should happen to one stand of trees, this should not have a significant impact on the overall return.

The trees are most vulnerable in the first two years, and we replace trees that get damaged during this time.

Participating farmers are carefully chosen based on their land location and their commitment to the long-term success of the program.

World Tree visits every farmer at least once a year. We work hand in hand with them every step of the way and do our best to ensure a profitable experience for everyone involved.

World Tree is an impact-focused company. Our programs offer multiple environmental and social benefits. Our 2021 Impact Report describes our measurable impact on poverty, economic growth, sustainable consumption, and climate action.

A recent report by Ostrom Climate found the Empress Splendor to be one of the most efficient trees for carbon removal on the planet. One acre of Empress trees will absorb about 30 tons of carbon per year. That’s approximately the carbon footprint of a north American couple.

In addition to carbon drawdown, the Empress Splendor has many other ecosystem benefits including:

Planting Empress trees naturally helps overcome some of the damage caused by industrial agriculture and to indeed regenerate the land back to its natural state. Empress trees can grow on degraded farmland and former pastureland, naturally replenishing the soil with nitrogen and carbon, and raising the water table, benefiting the entire local ecosystem.

To enhance our understanding further, we have recently partnered with Kiss the Ground and the Soil Health Academy to offer the Regen Ag 101 program to our US farmers and staff at no charge.

The Empress tree itself is regenerative – it will regrow from the stump after harvest multiple times, each time creating a new tree without the need to replant – making it a truly renewable resource!

World Tree is committed that the Eco-Tree Program includes a diversity of people, cultures, and backgrounds. Our CFO, Deborah Cullen, is a member of the Paiute tribe and has spent her lifetime working to improve conditions for her tribe and other indigenous tribes. Our forestry team is 75% people of color. Our senior leadership is 50% women – highly unusual in forestry.

This year we are bringing our commitment to diversity to the forefront – so that we continue to improve our ability to provide opportunities to all. In particular, we are focused on our US farms and the inclusion of more people of color and women. In alignment with the Justice40 initiative, our goal is to have 40% of our future farmers come from these underserved communities

The 2022 Eco-Tree Program is an invitation to all impact-focused investors to earn returns while benefiting the soil, the climate and helping to protect our natural forests.

There are not many investments that can make that claim - in fact, we haven’t found any!

Join us, and let’s show the world it can be done.