The UK Forest Market Report

Fenning Welstead

Presenting:- Forest Values – Commercial and Other

Goldcrest Founding Partner

Fenning Welstead is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Foresters and a past President. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and is a Registered Valuer. Trained as an ecologist, he is enthused by the appreciation of the importance of nature to our future well-being. Fenning is focused on valuations, cashflows and strategic assessments for clients, blending objectives to enhance value for owners and stakeholders in the short- and the longer-term.

Xander Mahony

Presenting - A Market Overview

Tilhill, Head of Forestry Investment

Xander has spent much of his career working in investment, including public companies in developing countries and technology start-ups in Silicon Valley.

He has experience working in government and the non-profit sector and has completed all three levels of the CFA program.

Gavin Adkins

FMR Chair, London

Tilhill Managing Director

Gavin began his career qualifying as a CIMA Accountant, within FMCG food manufacturing industry, where he obtained an extensive background within finance functions before broadening his experience base with established leading timber processors, managing complex supply chain programmes.

He joined the timber industry in 2002, spending 10 years in panelboard manufacture in both financial & procurement roles.  Gavin was Chairman of the Wood Panel Industry Federation from 2008 to 2012.

In 2013 Gavin joined BSW Timber as Purchasing Director and subsequently  joined the Tilhill board as Commercial Director on acquisition by BSW in 2015 where he progressed to become Managing Director in October 2019.

Jon Lambert

FMR Chair - Edinburgh

Goldcrest Founding Partner

Jon Lambert is a Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and a Registered Valuer. Formerly an Equity Partner and then Senior Director of John Clegg & Co. Jon brings three decades of experience adding value to rural assets, be it for disposal or long term hold. His strengths lie in  brokerage and asset management of woods, forestry, residential estates and renewable energy assets. He has overseen the disposal of 150,000 hectares to the value of £700m in Scotland alone in the last 15 years.

Dr Beccy Wilebore

Presenting: The Natural Capital of UK Forests

Chief Science Officer at Natcap Research

Beccy Wilebore leads the natural capital research (team) at NCR with responsibility for setting the science vision and overseeing model development. She is a quantitative ecologist with 10+ years of experience at the interface between natural sciences and economics. Beccy is highly experienced in working with clients from public and private sectors including asset managers, utility companies, charities, national parks and individual landowners to understand the investment opportunities in natural capital and biodiversity in a credible and data-driven way. During her research at the University of Oxford and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, she used large-scale geospatial models to map and quantify ecosystem services from natural capital, and understand how these data can inform environmental markets. She also specialises in data analysis from earth observation and remote sensing. Beccy holds a PhD in forest ecology and REDD+ carbon markets from the University of Cambridge.

Robert Guest,

Presenting - Sustainable land use: natural capital alpha?

Managing Director, Co-Lead Foresight Sustainable Forestry

Robert has more than 15 years’ experience in finance and investment and focuses on sustainable real estate and infrastructure.

He co-founded Foresight’s natural capital and forestry division and launched Foresight Sustainable Forestry Company (“FSF”) on the premium segment of the LSE via its IPO in Nov. 2021.

Experienced in greenfield project development, m&a, project finance debt, equity raising, launch of innovative business strategies in emerging sectors and asset optimisation & management.

Passionate about the key role that sustainable investment and responsible ownership & management has to play in the future of our planet.

Dan Bass

Presenting: Generating revenues from rewilding

CreditNature (Ecosulis), Rewilding Services Lead

Dan is a geographer and Rewilding Services Lead at CreditNature, Ecosulis. He is committed to generating new forms of value for people and nature in taking a pragmatic approach to rewilding. Dan works closely with landowners across the UK to develop nature-based enterprise models and rewilding visions that respond to emerging opportunities from a changing land economy. He is also a member of the Ecosulis innovation team, which is developing cutting-edge ecosystem analytics for various use cases, including evidencing a nature recovery token and enabling markets for nature positive carbon.

Dan is managing Ecosulis’ pilot projects with progressive land managers who are seeking to attract private investment into the rural economy to bring about transformational change for nature. With expertise in the social science of rewilding, landscape values, natural history filmmaking, and as a former pathways ranger, he adopts an interdisciplinary outlook to find common ground with different people.’