Ethical-Times-Spring-Newsletter-2012-v3

1. EthicalTimes tm Spring newsletter 2012 this issue... 2012 Harvests commence! 2012 Harvests As the 2012 harvests commence, we witness and reporton the harvesting process from start to finish. We demonstrate the process forharvesting investors’ trees What makes a good tree? Ignacio Rodríguez Varela explains howgrowing trees correctly makes all thedifference to an investor’s returns Investing for their future Why investing for the future ofyour family maybe one of the mostimportant decisions of your life Actual size Melina poster See what full size Melina actuallylooks like At this time of year, our plantations bustle into lifeas the harvesting season begins. Teams of workersare busy surveying all areas of our plantations to beharvested, compiling foresters reports, taking GPSpoints and updating our tree management database.Inside you can witness a typical 4th year harvest,from selecting the trees to harvesting. has been developed to service our new plantations inthis area, such as the recently acquired 4 million squaremetre Chimurria plantation, which is currently beingcleared for field planting. A full report on this plantationand our other new plantations will be available in our upand coming newsletters. San Carlos: Special Report We share our plans for ourCosta Rican research anddevelopment centre Sitting next to this new centre, we are also building anew house for the caretaker and their family. The houseis being built next to the protected forest that sits on thissite, ensuring the outlook is pleasant and the environmentis conducive to good family life. Many animals live withinthis forest, such as Howler monkeys, parrots and Toucans.Careful consideration is always given to the location ofour caretaker houses for the benefit of the plantationand the people who live their. Our Brasilia plantation hasa particularly wonderful caretaker house that sits on ahill overlooking the lush plantation, wild forest and river.We hope you enjoy this newsletter and always appreciateyour feedback and comments. Also in this edition you can read a report by EthicalForestry’s Professor Ignacio Rodríguez Varela on whatmakes a ‘plus tree’. We often get asked questions on howwe create healthy plantation trees. Ignacio explains whatto look for and the processes we undertake to ensure thatthe trees we grow are of a superior grade. What happens afteryou retire? Have you made adequate plans foryour retirement? We are currently making some big changes to our 25 acreSan Carlos timber mill site. Robert Brown is overseeing thedevelopment of the new tree growth centre, which willsupply 25,000 new trees per week for field planting whenrunning at full production. This new centre includes acompost and substrate production facility, germinationand propagation centre, transplanting and ‘Growing on’area, and a ‘Hardening off’ and dispatch area. This facility Meet an investor... Kevin Dursley explains why heinvested with Ethical Forestry Thank you. Ethical Forestry Ltd, 80 Holdenhurst Road, Bournemouth, Dorset, BH8 8AQ telephone 0800 075 30 10 emailenquiries@ethicalforestry.com

2. 2012 Harvests Commence As this years harvests get underway, we explain the stepby step process from felling to receiving funds Step 1: Authorising your harvest Before we harvest any investor’s trees, we send them a harvest report outlining the proposed courseof action. The report, written on site by our forestry engineers, recommends the trees to be harvested.The strongest trees are selected to continue growing and the weaker ones selected for harvesting. Step 2: Harvesting Once the harvest report has been approved, the engineers survey the site, take GPS (Global PositioningSystem) points for the trees being harvested and mark the trees to be felled with a cross. The engineersthen harvest the selected trees. This process will be repeated throughout the investment until the finalharvest, when all of the remaining trees are harvested. Step 3: Receiving your funds Confirmation of the harvest is sent to you along with the proceeds of the harvest. 1 GPS points are taken for each tree to be harvested and registered on our tree management database 2 Trees to be harvested are marked with a cross 3 Robert Brown discusses the harvest with Ethical Forestry directors Steven Greenaway and Paul Laver 4 Under the supervision of forestry engineer Ignacio Rodríguez Varela, the felling of the trees is discussed 5 The harvest commences

4. Creating the perfect trees Ignacio Rodríguez Varela explains what to look for in a correctly growing tree. A correctly managed Ethical Forestry plantationshows trees with straight trunks, the correct An example of a poor plantation not managedby Ethical Forestry. Incorrect spacing, trunk branch angle and efficient canopy proportion. bifurcation and poor pruning will severely reducethe value of these trees Fact file When pruning, careful consideration is given tohow each cut will impact on the individual tree. Fungicide is applied to each pruning mark toseal & heal. Name: Ignacio Rodríguez Varela The seeds that we select produce trees that are cylindrical, not conical. It is anatural phenomenon that trees are conical cylindrical, tapering as they gettaller. Our selected seeds create trees that are more biased to a cylindrical shape,creating a higher volume of wood. Bachelors Degree in Forestry Sciences with concentration in ForestryManagement, giving him the title of Forestry Engineer. Masters Degree in Business Administration.Professor in Forestry Management. Focusing the growth energy of the tree is a crucial part of the whole process. Weavoid bifurcation, where the trunk splits, creating a fork, making the tree’s energyfocus on growing the two trunks that produce narrower, less valuable timber. Bynot splitting, the trunk continues to amass more value by containing the timbermass in one area. Bifurcation is generally caused by inferior grade seeds beingused, which we avoid by only using certified seeds from verified sources. Professor in GIS (Geographical Information Systems) Information basedon geographical/demographic/topography). To the untrained eye, a plantation may look like it is flourishing but oncloser inspection all may not be what it seems. Ignacio explains ourthorough approach to ensure our plantations are thriving. “Ask most people what a perfect tree looks like and they will probably describeone that resembles the shape of a stem of broccoli. A thick, short trunk with lotsof branches and a big, bulbous canopy. For a tree that has grown wild, such asan English Oak, this is probably a good shape. A good plantation tree is totallydifferent as it is continually pruned and shaped to create a tree that will yield ahigh amount of timber. We create trees with a small canopy, this way the energy is going into the verticaldevelopment of the tree and not spreading like a traditional tree. We also avoidspiralling in the grain, as spiralling produces poor grade timber, which we avoidby seed (genetics) and site selection. Our trees do not have buttresses (due tothe seed genetics), as buttresses take the energy away from the core growth areas.Environment refers to the careful selection of the plantation, where we considermany aspects such as soil selection, topographic data and precipitation. Careand management play a crucial role in this part of the equation. Our on sitecaretakers and forestry engineers tend to our trees on a daily basis. Throughoutthe growth and pruning process, we encourage ‘healthy healing’ using the bestsilviculture practises. Every time we prune a branch, we apply a fungicide toward off infection. This is a proprietary mixture, the formula for which we keepclosely guarded. This mixture is applied after every pruning, sealing and healingthe pruning marks.” At Ethical Forestry, we use the formula Genotype + Environment = Phenotypeto create successful trees and therefore highly productive plantations. Genotype refers to the genetic potential of the organism, i.e, the tree. We haveto consider many different aspects of a trees development to ensure it growscorrectly. I refer to a correctly growing tree as a ‘Plus Tree’. ‘Plus Trees’ will have an‘open branch angle’, which will mean less knots in the finished timber. It will alsohave thin branches, which means the energy is going into the vertical growth ofthe tree and not the branches. For more information on our ethical investments or to speak with an advisor, please call us free on 0800 075 30 10 or visitwww.ethicalforestry.com

5. Melina poster now available Packed with facts about global forestry - Order your copy now, orsend to a friend. If you are fortunate enough to have held one of ourmature Melina discs samples, you will appreciate justhow big and heavy they are. Intrigued visitors alwayscount the rings to see how old the tree was whenfelled and amazed at the size. To share this experience,we have produced a fold out poster that has an actualsized disc on it so you can appreciate just how fastthese trees grow, along with many interesting industryfacts. If you would like a copy or would like to send oneto a friend, please contact our office. To order a Melina Poster call0800 075 30 10 or email usposter@ethicalforestry.com Property Investor Show Due to the popularity of our stand at the last Property Investor Show, we areexhibiting again. Investors, new investors, IFA’s and agents are all invited to visit us.On this stand we will have some slices of mature Melina, which promise to stealthe show. Mark Finn states, “These Melina discs really do offer a wow factor foranyone fortunate to see one. We invite anyone to pick one up to experience justhow heavy they are and to count the rings that demonstrate how old they are.” We are exhibiting at the PropertyInvestor Show at London’s EXCELduring April 19th-20th. For more information on our ethical investments or to speak with an advisor, please call us free on 0800 075 30 10 or visitwww.ethicalforestry.com

6. Costa Rica Diary by Robert Brown Big plans get underway forour Costa Rican research anddevelopment centre Our San Carlos site in Costa Rica is currently undergoing significant redevelopment to facilitate our ever growing needs. Robert Brown is currently overseeing the development of this new nursery facility that will service the region with saplings. The site is comprised of a compost development and soil mixing centre and multiple nurseries. This ‘new growth’ centre will have 275,000 new trees in various stages of growth whenfully operational, capable of supplying 25,000 trees per week for planting.The facility has been developed to service our new plantations for theregion, which we will be revealing in future newsletters. Other plans for the siteinclude new drying kilnsand a biomass facility for the development of ecological fuel sources 4 1 High grade, certified Melina seeds 2 Surveying a test seed bed growing Melina 3 Robert Brown explains the process for substrate production using our in-house, premium grade compostthat is used for growing all of our seedlings 4 A mist nozzle for fertigation (the process of adding fertiliser to water during irrigation) 5 Discussing the plans for the site 6 Melina saplings within one of the new greenhouses plings per week At full production, this site will produce

7. From seedto planting Stage 1: Compost and substrate production Stage 2: Germinationand propagation Stage 3: Transplanting: From reusable ‘pot in frame’ toecologically friendly, fieldready containers Stage 4: ‘Growing On’ area: Thesaplings grow into young trees Stage 5: ‘Harding Off’ area:The young trees acclimatiseto plantation conditions Stage 6: Dispatch to our plantations for field planting 9 7 Toucans dwell in the protected forest withinour grounds 8 Howler monkeys are a regular sight withinthis forest 9 Logs await catagorisation on the patio 10 The Bananaquit is a common visitor

8. What happens after you retire? As the average life expectancy continues to rise, it raises the question, ‘Have I reinvested enough of my pension for the future?’ After you retire - providing for upcoming expenses
 With the average UK life expectancy rising to 78 for males and 82 for females,most newly retired people are now finding they have many extra years toenjoy themselves. Apart from day-to-day living expenses, the most commonretirement expenditure is travelling, hobbies such as gardening, fishing andgolf, new work projects, home renovations and spending quality time with theirfamily and friends. In addition to the fun things in life, which all cost money, many people arefinding they have to give careful consideration to more serious matters, suchas how to pay for future care home and funeral expenses. The average priceof a single room in a private residential home in Britain now costs an averageof £25,953 a year. With a typical single pensioner on an annual income of just£13,998 it leaves a shortfall of £11,965 a year. The investment is fully transferable, so itcan be bequeathed to any beneficiary the family. This can potentially put considerable financial strain on relatives andquickly drain any inheritance. After speaking to their IFA, many of our investors consider using part of theirannuity tax-free lump sum on retiring to purchase one of our investments. Thiscreates a reliable income stream to support them during this stage of their life In addition to care home & nursing home costs, the ‘cost of dieing’ is also risingyear-on-year with the average associated costs now being above £7,000. Lack of planning may lead to these expenses being funded from the family home or by and gives them peace of mind that help for future expenses are catered for. An Investor’s Story If you would also like to appear inAn Investor’s Story, please contactpeter.bowdler@ethicalforesty.com Written by Kevin Dursley Kevin Dursley explains why he invested with Ethical Forestry “ At 52 I started to realise that I hadn’t got anything in place for myretirement or pension. I searched endlessly through countlessmoney magazines looking for the right investment for me. EthicalForestry captured my attention straight away and seemed to tick allthe boxes. I have a real passion and concern for the environment,so it’s important to me to be involved with looking after therainforests and wildlife of the world. The more I looked into timberinvestments, the more enthusiastic I became about investing. I contacted Ethical Forestry who arranged for one of their team tovisit me. They talked me through the investment process step-by-step. I didn’t feel pressurised, nothing was too much trouble andI felt completely at ease. The returns seemed very promising fora low risk investment and as I had a considerable sum to invest,I needed to know and feel that I was doing the right thing. I have now been with Ethical Forestry for a year and I’m extremelypleased with the after sales service. You will find that there is alwaysa representative at the other end of the phone to satisfy your needsand any questions you might have. I am looking forward to making future investments each yearbecause the potential is vast. I would also like to thank the EthicalForestry team here and in Costa Rica for all their hard work and forlooking after all of our investments, they are doing a great job! ” Ethical Forestry is not regulated by the Financial Services Authority and does not offer any advice about any regulated or unregulated investments, either within this newsletter or elsewhere. Please consult an Independent Financial Advisor prior to making any decision to buy our products.Our products are not regulated investments. Their value may rise or fall and no guarantees of future performance in respect of income or capital growth are given either expressly or by implication, and you may not get back the full amount you pay for them. Ethical Forestry shall not be heldliable to anyone for any errors, omissions or inaccuracies within this newsletter under any circumstances or for any loss or damage which may arise from the use of any of the information or detail contained herein. For more information on our ethical investments or to speak with an advisor, please call us free on 0800 075 30 10 or visitwww.ethicalforestry.com