Panama City/ Portland, Oregon, USA - The German-Panamanian reforestation and service company Futuro Forestal has won Metafore's first annual Innovation Award 2006. It was presented to General Managers Iliana Armien and Andreas Eke at the Awards ceremony on May 5th during Metafore's Forest Leadership Forum. The Award recognises product and service innovations that demonstrate improved environmental, social and financial results. Metafore collaborates with leaders in business and society including USAID, WWF, and Bank of America, among others.

Futuro Forestal won the Grand Prize in the Service Category for WoodStockInvest, the company's forest investment product which enables international investors to own a forest with secure title, invest in a high-yield product and contribute to social and ecological development. Columbia Forest Products won in the Product Category the Grand Prize for its product PureBond - a formulation of decorative hardwood plywood panels produced using a formaldehyde-free adhesive system. Further prize winners include Starbucks Coffee Company for its recycled-content paper cup and Time Inc.'s ReMix Project, which stands for REcycling Magazines Is Excellent, based on reeducating the public about the value of recovering magazines.

Metafore President and CEO David Ford pointed out: "All of the organizations recognized in our awards are change agents, and their innovations serve as guideposts for others."

Andreas Eke, general manager of Futuro Forestal, said: "After many years of hard work we are very proud to receive this award in a moment where we enter a new era of the company. The prize is a further step towards our vision to change the face of forestry in the tropics and offer creative and safe forest investment products and alternatives to monoculture. We thank our team and all our investors who help us in making this come true."

About Futuro Forestal:
Futuro Forestal is a German-Panamanian Reforestation and Service Company who has developed in an innovative model for sustainable reforestation in the tropics. Futuro Forestal offers its worldwide investors a unique opportunity to own a forest, to invest in a high yield product and to help improve ecological and social development. The company offers a portfolio of seven different species of fine tropical timber, apart from Teak (Tectona grandis) all native species: Amarillo (Terminalia amazónia), Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla), Spine Cedar (Bombacopsis quinatum), Zapatero (Hyeronima alchorneoides), Almendro (Dipterix panamensis) and Rosewood. Futuro Forestal combines the advantages of a plantation (high profits) with the major characteristics of a primary forest (biodiversity and a stable ecosystem) and has been voted by the independent rating agency SICIREC in 2004 and 2005 for its innovative approach "Best Forest Investment in Latin America". The company has been constantly growing in the last years with its operations in Panama and is consulting other forestry operations all over Latin America. Futuro Forestal applies latest techniques in forestry and is cooperating with scientific instutions around the world such as the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (PRORENA).

More on: www.futuroforestal.com, virtual tour on www.futuroforestal.com/video

About Metafore
Founded in 1997, Metafore is a Portland, Oregon-based non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that works with businesses to align their practices with environmental and social results.

Our vision is of a future where business practices "by their very nature" are in alignment with social and environmental interests. For us, this is not about trade-offs or about balancing financial, environmental and social objectives over the short term. This vision speaks to an evolution of business practices over time based on a gradual alignment of values and objectives. To inquire about Metafore's mission, vision and suite of projects and services, contact us at info@metafore.org or 001/503.224.2205. www.metafore.org

Futuro Forestal

Futuro Forestal

Futuro Forestal is a German Panamanian owned reforestation and forestry services company devoted to changing the trend in the timber industry with innovative methods in production, conservation, and social services. Futuro Forestal markets FSC certified (SW-FM/COC-037) tropical hardwood timber using a reforestation method of multi-species plantations of native tree species mixed with Teak. Futuro Forestal works with renown Universities and Research Institutes to further the success of our methods designed to not only meet economic profits but also to rehabilitate degraded lands, restore area biodiversity, and improve the social and economic conditions in rural populations. Futuro Forestal is also the first private CCB certified carbon credit trader in Latin America.

More from Futuro Forestal