Entrepreneurs match with mentors to grow, go green in Restoration Factory

                                                                                A section of the natural forest in Vietnam  _©:UN-REDD                                                                                                       

Trekking among the majestic mountains and unspoilt valleys of Switzerland’s Valais canton was where Soline Linh Le’s passion for forests was first ignited – setting her on a path a decade later towards mentoring entrepreneurs to help them expand and be more sustainable. Le, back then a student but now an entrepreneur, gender activist and sustainability expert in Vietnam’s commercial hub Ho Chi Minh City, is involved in the Restoration Factory - an online platform that matches entrepreneurs looking to expand and bolster their green credentials with business experts.

Led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and supported by Spanish social enterprise Bridge for Billions, the Restoration Factory was launched in 2022 and has helped more than 300 entrepreneurs to develop their businesses and adopt sustainable, forest-friendly practices. “My school was based in a forest and very remote area in Swiss Valais,” said Le, who spent most weekends trekking with fellow students while studying for a business degree in 2014.

“It was the first time I’d heard about ecotourism because nobody was talking about this in Vietnam or Southeast Asia .. that’s where I personally learned so much about nature and how ecotourism works and coexists with the ecosystems,” added Le, who has also worked in Uganda’s ecotourism industry.

“But in the Vietnamese community now, everybody talks about sustainability ... in remote areas this matters a lot because they rely on forests to survive.”

Improving protection and restoration of natural areas, be they parks, forests, lakes or oceans, is vital to maintaining the biodiversity on which animals and humans depend on, while aiding global climate goals. Not just in Vietnam, but around the world people are reliant on nature to supply them with clean air and water, and to regulate rainfall that is vital for growing food crops.   Plants and trees also absorb planet-heating carbon dioxide and bolstering conservation efforts – be it through the efforts of Indigenous People, NGOs, governments or businesses - is widely seen as one of the cheapest and most effective ways to tackle climate change.

However, forests and other ecosystems are still being destroyed, often to expand agriculture and other commodities, to meet the demands of a growing global population. The Restoration Factory helps new entrepreneurs to partner with mentors online so they can find sustainable solutions for their businesses and generate more growth – be it through forest conservation and restoration, developing rural communities and the green economy, or job creation.

Presently, the incubation programme operates in Bhutan, Cambodia, Lao PDR and Viet Nam under the UNEP’s “Sustaining an Abundance of Forest Ecosystems (SAFE) Initiative. Funded by the Korea Forest Service (KFS), the SAFE initiative stands as a pioneering endeavor dedicated to advancing the conservation and sustainable management of forest resources and ecosystems.

“It’s a website. (The entrepreneurs) are mostly working towards forest restoration and towards supporting and working with communities and trying to create more opportunities, said Martin Jacobo, a programme manager at Bridge for Billions.

“We’re working with businesses to strengthen entrepreneurs eco-systems and work towards forest restoration,” added Jacobo, who has supported entrepreneurs under the SAFE initiative..

Untapped opportunities in the green economy

Entrepreneurs are invited to apply through the Restoration Factory website and then asked some basic questions about their businesses and expectations - what their links are to forest restoration and forest communities. The volunteer mentors are usually professionals with experience in specific fields – ranging from business, forests or sustainability. After an entrepreneur is picked to take part, they’re invited to match with mentors by reading about each other and to discuss expectations, before meeting to decide whether they’re happy to work together.

The journey then involves refining the business idea, analyzing  competitors and stakeholders, marketing strategies and business models, finance and the price of products of services, and final projections. Growth and impact plans are also drawn up by the entrepreneurs and mentors, the latter giving two hours of their time and expertise for free each week.

Mentor Droston Tang is a country manager at Custos Technologies in Singapore, advising brands and retailers to engage in green actions, like meatless meals and cycling, to reduce or avoid emissions.Through the Restoration Factory, he was matched last year with a shiitake mushroom grower and seller in Vietnam, helping with branding and international expansion goals.

The Vietnamese entrepreneur was farming in the Da Lat mountainous region with local communities, especially women, and looking to ramp up output in a sustainable way and sell to international buyers.

Quan Pham was the Vietnamese entrepreneur who matched with Tang to help his shiitake mushrooms business, Nareka.

Quan said being mentored helped his company “clearly plan the strategy and details of what businesses need to do to enter the market, understand customers and plan for impact, development and sustainable growth.This year, Tang was matched with a Cambodian entrepreneur doing beekeeping and selling wild honey but who was keen to expand but also empower local, forest communities.

“If you talk about consumables, like mushrooms or honey – that’s something where I can add value,” said Tang, who has 18 years of business experience in areas like renewable energy, car and student housing rentals and upcycling agriculture waste.

“Apart from maintaining forests, we also need to create community livelihoods. That’s something that Southeast Asia possesses a lot of interesting, untapped opportunities, he added.

Other examples of entrepreneurs involved in the Restoration Factory include non-timber forest products like medicines, oils, food and beverages like honey, coffee and mushrooms, craft materials and eco-tourism.

As part of the project, UNEP, Bridge for Billions and incubation managers at country level also run networking events with investors and donors, visits to forest restoration areas, and technical workshops with experts.

Mentors help early-entrepreneurs avoid costly mistakes

More than 200 mentors have been involved in the scheme, and the process takes about four to six months, with results measured through surveys.

Mentors often forge strong partnerships with businesses and continue working with their matched entrepreneurs after the programme ends, or join the company.

So far, results from the project are positive with 96% of early-entrepreneurs who took part still in business, and many doubling the funds they’ve raised and increasing jobs creation by 60%.

All businesses joining the program undergo a thorough screening and due diligence process to ensure they have a positive impact on forests, whether through protection, restoration, or enhancing local livelihoods, said Alexis Corblin, UNEP’s senior technical advisor for Asia-Pacific.

This contributes to mitigating emissions from the forest sector, in-line with UNEP’s REDD+ support, he said, noting that some of the entrepreneurs are also exploring carbon revenues as a secondary source of income alongside their core business activities.

“This initiative is a game changer for private sector engagement in our region,” said Corblin.

“UNEP's strategy in the Asia-Pacific is to scale up the Restoration Factory to other countries. This model has the potential to complement UNEP work and significantly impact forests and local economies in many other countries as well,” he added.

Back in Viet Nam, Le, who was introduced to the programme by another mentor, admits to making a “few costly mistakes” on her journey as an entrepreneur, and hopes her experiences can help other avoid similar pitfalls.

She was partnered with Vietnamese company making medicinal products sourced from forests by an entrepreneur working with ethnical minorities in rural areas and was keen to teach farmers how to adopt sustainable agriculture practices.

Le showed her matched entrepreneur how their forest products can reach a wider market and expand the businesses – realising their potential.

“I wanted to be the one who supports someone on their journey, Le said.

“I care about sustainable development, so forestry nicely fits in. I’m learning a lot too, from my mentees,” she added.   ENDS