Standing against a Forest of Reason 💪

This blog was originally written by Andy Kerr and published on LinkedIn

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I learned a new quote last week and I like it and will keep it.  It was by George Bernard Shaw, the paraphrased version goes like this…  

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

Without knowingly being so, I am an unreasonable man.  After some reflection I have recalled how being unreasonable has helped me achieve in life.

On Friday I joined many unreasonable men and women to support a calling for making a change in the forestry and investment sector.  

How did this begin?

We were brought together by Jonny and Alex who asked for like-minded New Zealanders to gather and help them solve a problem.

Jonny and Alex formed a partnership with a focus on enabling a method of solving the problem of Pine Tree blocks in New Zealand.  

“Pine Blocks are a problem?” I hear you say.  

Well not in themselves, more that there is no long term vision for the 1.5million Hectares of Pine Tree Blocks in New Zealand and that 70% of these trees are controlled by offshore pension funds and large multinationals.

Jonny and Alex’s vision is to enable everyday New Zealanders to buy back blocks with a plan to profitably regenerate them over the next 100 years.  

Their mission right now is to find 100,000 Kiwi’s who are willing to pay as little as $20 per month to enable the buy back of $16Billion of Pine Tree blocks over the next 10 years. 

This would mean 100,000 Kiwi’s have some meaningful long term investment, that is connected to a long term plan towards regeneration. 

Some bold goals. But being bold and being unreasonable is what brought them together and has spurred on over 150 others to join them in the past week.

What is driving this initiative? 

Over the last 3 months they interviewed a range of stakeholders; small and large block holders, Banks, Investment Managers and Kiwisaver funds, Entrepreneurs, Forest Management companies, regular investors, carbon traders, NZTE and Senior finance and economics academics.  

They learned a lot.

They found that the forestry investment industry is geared for those with wealth and against those without. 

They found that the small block holders are having to liquidate as they realise that a 25 year plan is actually a 50 year plan, so they are selling their current assets for a 50% discount of the asset value to larger players.  

They found a parallel with the NZ housing market that the wealth concentration in Trees is similar to property.  

They found that those who have can win in trees and those that have not will never get the benefit of this NZ asset.

So with nearly everything weighed against turning this around, they stuck to being unreasonable and figured out a plan.  

This is not a plan to make them a “quick buck”, but a plan to set an example, test the waters with like-minded New Zealanders, those that want to see change and see everyone have a chance of wealth.  

What did they do next?

They wrote this LinkedIn article about what they had uncovered (which included the quote), their desire to make changes and their plan to buck the trend and make a difference. 

Then they posted the article and challenged their friends and colleagues to read, like, share and if it resonated, sign up.  

Signing up included parting with money, initially just $20 but with a commitment.  

The aim was to get 100 people to sign up and prove to them that they struck a chord, and that those 100 people would commit to paying $20 per week.  

In under 7 days over 500 people read this article and over 150 people signed up.

Jonny and Alex had modelled getting 100 people for $20 per week, which would give $30,000 by Christmas, $5 million under management by 2030.  

But of course the goal is to get 100,000 Kiwis involved, which if they all signed up now, would provide $30 million by Christmas - enough to buy 3 small blocks.

So Jonny and Alex have so far been right, there are enough of us who think like they do, want to solve the problem and probably want to be active and unreasonable solvers, not just passive investors.  

They fully admit they do not know everything, they have called out some issues to solve and have asked for further input.

Sharing Unreasonableness...

On the day of the “big wind” in the Wairarapa, Friday 10th September they hosted the first  “Regenerate NZ Virtual Forest Party 🎉🌳” when many of us who had signed up, met for virtual drinks and to celebrate our shared unreasonableness. 

It was a great success and we met new people and shared our reasons for wanting to be involved, and committed to be back and do more.  

There will be more to say and you will be encouraged to join.

I consider myself to be very fortunate to get involved in something like this.  

I am going to continue to be unreasonable and stand against the Forest of reason.  

Maybe you can be unreasonable too and join us, have a think, let Jonny and Alex know if you do.  

Unreasonably yours…

Andy Kerr

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You can read the original LinkedIn article “How 100 Kiwi’s can profitably regenerate New Zealand” here 

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This blog was originally written by Andy Kerr and published on LinkedIn