(openPR) - News that millions of dollars of forestry investment are to be generated for Uruguayan managed forestry this week has been welcomed by Forestry Research Associates.

Seattle, WA, August 10, 2011 -- News that millions of dollars of forestry investment are to be generated for Uruguayan managed forestry this week has been welcomed by Forestry Research Associates.

The forestry investment trust, called Bosques del Uruguay, is listing on the Montevideo Stock Exchange in an attempt to raise some $50 million. The move will enable the trust to buy 10,000 hectares of land on which to grow eucalyptus trees, on plantations that will be managed by forestry management firm Agroempresa Forestal.

The management firm already operates plantations in Uruguay and other Latin American countries, including Brazil and Chile. Plantations, such as those run by Agroempresa Forestal, supply forestry products to markets a far away as Asia, where demand for timber and other forestry products have been rising exponentially in recent months and years.

FRA, a research and analysis consultancy, promotes investment in sustainably operated and managed forestry projects – particularly those in emerging economies, such as through Greenwood Management in Brazil. FRA's analysis partner Peter Collins, said: “News that the Uruguayan managed forestry industry is to be $50 million better-off is fantastic for forestry in general. Plantations of non-native trees, such as eucalyptus, provide pulp mills and other industrial consumers with a sustainably produced alternative to timbers growing in Latin America’s fragile forests.”

Agroempressa Forestal’s chief executive of forest management, Francisco Bonnino, stated: "Uruguay is more open [to foreign investment] with reasonably priced land and without major political and social problems that might limit" the forestry industry.

Bosques del Uruguay said it hopes to produce 2.76 million cubic meters of timber over the coming 21 years. Half of this will be shipped to foreign markets as logs, while the other half will supply domestic pulp and electrical generation plants.

Mr Bennino added that the firm may expand the strategy in other markets: "We think it might be interesting to replicate this in other countries where we operate, like Brazil where today there is a major restriction on foreign investment in land but not on capital that enters through the stock exchange in Sao Paulo."

Mr Bennino added that the firm may expand the strategy in other markets: "We think it might be interesting to replicate this in other countries where we operate,

Contact:
Peter Collins
Forestry Research Associates
620 Vineyard Lane
Bainbridge Island, WA 98110
(206) 316 8394
info@forestry-research.com
www.forestry-research.com