Working Lands Investment Fund, LP

We build investments through the acquisition and restoration of open lands and the creation and sale of environmental credits for wetlands, streams, water quality, habitat, and carbon to entities that are required by law to offset or mitigate their environmental impacts. All properties are protected by permanent conservation easements. Returns are supplemented by traditional income from sustainable timber management, agriculture and recreation. Our activities extend the footprint of protected lands by using private capital to achieve conservation goals while offering investors a competitive rate of return.

Investments are targeted to be cash generative within three years, with a goal to return capital (plus hurdle) by seven years. Our assumptions contain no leverage and conservatively do not include the final land sale as a component of return. All activities are subjected to rigorous oversight and risk management to protect client's capital and to deliver consistent performance that is not dependent on one source of return.

Financial description

Through the acquisition and restoration of open lands, we expect to generate 65-75% of returns from the creation and sale of environmental credits. Up to 25% is expected to come from traditional sources, such as income from sustainably managed timber, agriculture and recreation. The remaining 0-10% may be generated from opportunistic sources, such as limited conservation development. Target returns are 12-15% net of fees.
Central to our philosophy is a belief that ownership of the underlying land is an important part of both risk and return in monetizing environmental credits. It allows us the flexibility to create the most financially and ecologically optimal land use strategy, to retain the capital appreciation of the protected and restored properties, and to hedge investment risk through a diversified portfolio of projects and sources of returns.