A report issued this morning by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) suggests that the planting of trees is far more than a good deed, and in fact, has the potential to scale and become a booming business.

Enter in a new term in the sustainability lexicon: the “restoration economy.”

Global efforts to restore degraded land worldwide will not be easy. After all, getting past red tape is among the many hurdles that get in the way of land remediation and replanting forests. Additionally, many investors struggle to understand the concept of land restoration in the first place. Transaction costs are often high, and many of these firms struggle to score capital. Investors shy away from these projects in part because they offer almost no liquidity – in other words, they cannot be bought and sold quickly to churn a quick profit. Finally, many of these lands are in countries where land tenure and title are tenuous; these same countries often have weak governance structures and frequently struggle with corruption.

Nevertheless, there are companies finding success in this sector. One of them is United Kingdom-based Biocarbon Engineering, which operates a fleet of drones reforesting areas that are difficult to access.  Other companies may not be generating revenues directly from their forest restoration efforts, but are planting trees while building a successful business.

The restoration economy still faces an uphill climb. Investors have to be patient, as they may not see robust returns for 10 to 20 years.

Read the full article about forest restoration: risks and rewards by Leon Kaye at Triple Pundit.