Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Agriculture, livestock and food · Mozambique · 2007

Chikweti forestry plantations (Mozambique)

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 1 none on record · 1 insufficient · 1 not measured · 1 disputed · 1 unclear See the gaps

A Dutch pension fund held a majority stake in a fund that planted pine and eucalyptus in Niassa province, Mozambique. A 2010 government review found that 32,000 hectares were occupied without land-use rights.

32,000 haLand occupied without DUAT (government review, September 2010)
Finding of Mozambique's Ministry of Agriculture and the National Directorate of Lands and Forests (DNTF); the fund denied it.

Status As of the sources reviewed (2011–2013): ABP conceded the investment did not meet ESG criteria and stayed invested; current status not found.

What?
A forestry fund majority-held by ABP established pine and eucalyptus plantations in Niassa, Mozambique; a government review found 32,000 ha occupied without DUAT. Transnational Institute and FIAN
Where?
Niassa province, Mozambique. Transnational Institute and FIAN
When?
From 2007; government review September 2010; ABP statement December 2011. Transnational Institute and FIAN
Who?
Gained
Lost
None on record
Harmed
None on record
Why?
ABP said forest land offers stable and potentially high returns for pension funds. Transnational Institute and FIAN
How?
Through GSFF and its subsidiary Chikweti Forests of Niassa, using DUAT land-use rights granted by the state. Transnational Institute and FIAN
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

In 2007 the Dutch pension fund ABP decided to add forest land to its portfolio. According to a briefing by the Transnational Institute (TNI) and FIAN, it took 60 percent of the Global Solidarity Forest Fund (GSFF), a US$100 million fund set up by the Diocese of Västerås of the Church of Sweden and the Church of Norway's foundation OVF. Other sources give ABP's share as 54.5 percent and its investment as €47 million or US$60 million. GSFF's subsidiary Chikweti Forests of Niassa established pine and eucalyptus plantations in Niassa province, Mozambique.

ABP's stated reason was that forest land offers stable and potentially high returns for pension funds. A senior ABP portfolio manager announced a target of raising land investment to about €1 billion under the slogan 'The world is our farm', according to TNI and FIAN.

In Mozambique land belongs to the state, and the right to use it is held through a DUAT (right of use and benefit of land), which works as a title. A review in September 2010 by the Ministry of Agriculture and the National Directorate of Lands and Forests (DNTF) found that Chikweti had occupied 32,000 hectares illegally, without a DUAT. GSFF denied the finding.

In December 2011 ABP conceded that the investment did not meet environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria, but declined to withdraw. In 2011–2013 the Dutch minister Ben Knapen said the government does not dictate policy to private investors, and the government defended forest investment as important for Mozambique's development, according to TNI and FIAN.

  1. 2007ABP decides to add forest land to its portfolio and takes a majority stake in GSFF
  2. 2010September: Mozambican government review finds 32,000 ha occupied without DUAT; GSFF denies
  3. 20115 December: ABP concedes the investment did not meet ESG criteria; declines to withdraw
  4. 2013TNI/FIAN briefing on the Netherlands and the global land and water grab published

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Did Chikweti occupy 32,000 hectares without land-use rights (DUAT)?
Government and regulators
Mozambique Ministry of Agriculture and DNTF

A September 2010 review found that Chikweti Forests of Niassa occupied 32,000 ha illegally, without DUAT.

Transnational Institute and FIAN
Company or project
Global Solidarity Forest Fund

Denied the finding.

Transnational Institute and FIAN

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

    Recorded

    • A September 2010 review by Mozambique's Ministry of Agriculture and DNTF found Chikweti Forests of Niassa occupied 32,000 ha without DUAT; GSFF denied it.
      Transnational Institute and FIAN
    • ABP conceded in December 2011 that the investment did not meet ESG criteria and declined to withdraw.
      IPE / Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
    • Chikweti held FSC certification at the time the government review found 32,000 ha occupied without DUAT.

    Who gained

    Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

    Reached nature or the ground

    Not published
    No figure published.

    Gained elsewhere

    Not totalled
    Currency: · Window: . All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

    Responses on record

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What nature saw

    Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

    Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

    Land occupied without DUAT
    32,000 ha
    Mozambican government review, September 2010; denied by GSFF
    Plantation type
    Pine and eucalyptus
    Established on natural miombo woodland and agricultural land, as described in the sources reviewed

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Accounts

    • Disputed Did Chikweti occupy 32,000 hectares without land-use rights (DUAT)?

    Record

    • None on record Current status of GSFF and Chikweti and whether ABP has since exited: the sources reviewed date from 2011–2013.
    • Insufficient A table in a World Bank BioCarbon Fund document is reported to give 63,040 ha of DUAT and 14,250 ha planted for Chikweti; reported but not independently verified.
    • Unclear Whether local communities were properly consulted: reported by the Mozambican farmers' union and the DNTF, but not independently verified in the sources reviewed.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not on record: the sources reviewed (2011–2013) do not say whether the occupation ended or whether ABP exited.

    Who paid?

    Not established in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Press and investigations

    1. ABP concedes African forestry investment failed to meet ESG criteria
      IPE / Business & Human Rights Resource Centre · 2011-12-05

    Communities and civil society

    1. The Netherlands and the Global Land and Water Grab
      Transnational Institute and FIAN · 2013

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
    Terms used on this page

    Science and environment

    Hectare (ha)
    A unit of area equal to 10,000 square metres, about 2.5 acres. 100 hectares make one square kilometre.

    Carbon and conservation finance

    ESG
    Environmental, social and governance criteria that investors and insurers use to screen companies and projects.
    Standard-setter and registry
    An organisation that writes the rules for carbon credits, approves projects, and records when credits are issued and retired. Such bodies typically charge fees per credit.
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