Genevieve Bennett
DirectorCommunications and Strategic Outreach
Genevieve Bennett leads Forest Trends’ strategic outreach and communications work. Genevieve works to advance Forest Trends’ mission through strategic partnerships; creative, content-driven communications; meaningful engagement of our coalitions of partners and thought leaders in the field; and strengthened internal capacity for strategic partnerships and outreach.
Genevieve has expertise in environmental markets and finance, and has written extensively for both Forest Trends and a range of trade and academic publications including Environmental Finance magazine, Civil Engineering, and Nature, on topics including biodiversity finance, natural infrastructure, eco-entreprenuership, strategies for scaling public and private conservation investments, and other market cross-cutting issues. Prior to joining Forest Trends she managed a demand assessment project for the Willamette Partnership in Oregon, and has also held positions with the Breakthrough Institute, the NYC Commission to the United Nations, and NYU Wagner School of Public Service. She holds an MSc from the London School of Economics and a BA from New York University.
Infographic: Forest-based Value Chains: A New Bioeconomy for the Amazon Forest
By Verena Manolis, Cheyenne Coxon, and Genevieve Bennett View PublicationForest Trends partners with indigenous communities in Brazil’s Tupi Mosaic to develop economic enterprises that promote forest conservation. We’re building sustainable value chains for açaí, artisan products, Brazil nuts, and cacao, and demonstrating the business model for native seeds and seedlings. The “Amazon Bioeconomy” we are building mimics traditional Amazon management systems, creating a diversity […]
The World is Losing Its Forests. Community-led Conservation Can Help.
Infographic
By Cheyenne Coxon and Genevieve Bennett View Publication
Why Gender Equality is at the Heart of Our Water Security Strategy in Peru
By Cheyenne Coxon, Genevieve Bennett, and Gena Gammie View PublicationIn partnership with the Peruvian government, civil society, academia, and women leaders from communities to national ministries, Forest Trends is building a strategy that aims to tackle both water security and gender equality. Our goal is to make increased investment in and capacity for natural infrastructure a central piece of Peru’s water security and climate […]
The Living Pharmacy Project
By Cheyenne Coxon and Genevieve Bennett View PublicationForest Trends has been working with Yawanawa and Suruí indigenous communities since 2014 to establish “Living Pharmacies.” By building medicinal plant gardens in their villages, communities can reclaim and maintain a resource critical to their health and cultural identity. Each Living Pharmacy is a place where elders can pass their traditions on to the next[…]
Evaluating Potential for Water Transfer Markets in the US Southeast
By Genevieve Bennett, Johnwilliam Carroll, Melissa Gallant, and Kelley Hamrick View PublicationEvery few years, the Southeast US experiences a major drought – the most recent occurring in 2016, when soil moisture reached the 2nd lowest ever recorded between October to November.1 During these times, the increased frequency of above-normal temperatures and below-normal rainfall during the growing season can result in major agricultural impacts, including: row-crop losses[…]
Screening New Market Opportunities for Sustainably Managed State, Private and Tribal Working Forests
By Genevieve Bennett and Melissa Gallant View PublicationSustainably managed working forests provide not just wood and fiber, but a range of other benefits: clean water, wildlife habitat, carbon storage, flood protection, recreational and cultural values, and more. Scaling up investments in sustainable forest management can generate financial returns for good stewardship of these multiple conservation values. The United States Forest Service (USFS) […]
Lessons Learned on Demand
Demand Dynamics of Ecosystem Markets in the United States
By Genevieve Bennett, Melissa Gallant, and Kelley Hamrick View PublicationThis study on lessons learned about demand in ecosystem markets in the United States was commissioned to help the National Network on Water Quality Trading (NNWQT) identify transferrable lessons for their strategy on stimulating demand for water quality credits and other market-based incentives for nonpoint source water quality. A rapid review of historical experience in […]
Mapping Potential Demand for Water Quality Trading in the United States
By Genevieve Bennett and Melissa Gallant View PublicationWater quality trading is a promising tool that offers a flexible, more cost-effective approach to reducing pollution in our waterways than more traditional engineered solutions. Yet a lack of sufficient demand for credits has been a consistent barrier to scaling up water quality trading in the United States. The National Network on Water Quality Trading […]
State of Biodiversity Mitigation 2017
Markets and Compensation for Global Infrastructure Development
By Genevieve Bennett, Melissa Gallant, Kerry ten Kate View PublicationBetween 2015 and 2030, global spending on transportation networks, energy, utilities, and other essential infrastructure is expected to double. This infrastructure development is necessary to keep pace with growing populations, our current infrastructure’s depreciation, and the moral imperative to provide a basic modern standard of living for all people on this planet. However, this infrastructure […]
State of Watershed Investment 2016
Alliances for Green Infrastructure
By Genevieve Bennett, Franziska Ruef View PublicationIt’s been a banner year for green infrastructure, from the roll-out of the Paris climate deal to Peru’s groundbreaking new water security strategy to California’s recent legislation recognizing nature as a critical part of its water infrastructure. In 2015, governments, water utilities, companies, and communities spent nearly $25 billion on payments for green infrastructure for water. More than 400 programs in 62 countries invested in the natural ability of forests, wetlands, grasslands, and other ecosystems to ensure clean, reliable water supplies for cities and communities, and to combat threats from rapid urban expansion and agricultural pollution.
An Atlas of Ecosystem Markets in the United States
By Genevieve Bennett, Nathaniel Carroll, Katherine Sever, Anne Neale, Christopher Hartley, PhDToday’s natural resource managers and policy makers operate in a rapidly changing landscape. Decision makers must contend with biophysical shifts from development and climate change, as well as changes in economic development patterns and social values, like growing interest in renewable energy and market-based conservation. To make sound decisions, leaders need a comprehensive and continually updated understanding of the dynamics at play in managing natural resources. Recent years have brought a steep increase in publicly available scientific and social data, but making sense of these inputs in decision making is not always easy.
Ecosystem Markets and Ecosystem Valuation
Valuing Ecosystem Services on Conservation Lands 101
By Genevieve Bennett - Ecosystem Marketplace View Publication
Un Viaje a las Profundidades
By Genevieve Bennett, Nathaniel Carroll - Ecosystem Marketplace/Forest Trends, Ecosystem Marketplace/Forest Trends View Publication
Businesses Wise Up to Supply-Chain Water Risks
By Genevieve Bennett - Greenbiz.com View PublicationFears about rising water risk, the carbon world’s recent embrace of landscape approaches, and natural capital’s growing profile in the business world all add to the momentum of water stewardship.
State of Watershed Payments Report (Executive Summary for Business)
By Genevieve Bennett, Nathaniel Carroll - Forest Trends' Ecosystem Marketplace, Forest Trends' Ecosystem Marketplace View PublicationThis Executive Summary for Business builds upon data and analysis from Charting New Waters: State of Watershed Payments 2012. In Charting New Waters, we track the size, scope, and outlook for investments in watershed services and in the ecological infrastructure from which they flow, focusing on transactions between investors and watershed service providers. This Executive […]
State of Watershed Payments 2012
Charting New Waters
By Genevieve Bennett - Ecosystem Marketplace View Publication
Executive Summary: Charting New Waters
State of Watershed Payments 2012
By Genevieve Bennett, Nathaniel Carroll, Katherine Hamilton View Publication
2012年流域服务支付状况
勾画水资源新蓝图 - 执行摘要 (Charting New Waters - Exec Summ in Chinese)
By Genevieve Bennett, Nathaniel Carroll, Katherine Hamilton - Ecosystem Marketplace, Ecosystem Marketplace, Ecosystem Marketplace View Publication
Charting New Waters
State of Watershed Payments 2012
By Genevieve Bennett, Nathaniel Carroll, Katherine Hamilton View PublicationState of Watershed Payments 2012 is the second installment of the most comprehensive inventory to date of initiatives around the world that are paying individuals and communities to revive or preserve water-friendly features of the landscape. The number of initiatives that protect and restore forests, wetlands, and other water-rich ecosystems has nearly doubled in just […]
Dependent Documents
Trazando las Nuevas Aguas
By Genevieve Bennett, Nathaniel Carroll, Katherine Hamilton - Ecosystem Marketplace, Ecosystem Marketplace, Ecosystem Marketplace
2012年流域服务支付状况
勾画水资源新蓝图 - 执行摘要 (Charting New Waters - Exec Summ in Chinese)
By Genevieve Bennett, Nathaniel Carroll, Katherine Hamilton - Ecosystem Marketplace, Ecosystem Marketplace, Ecosystem Marketplace
Executive Summary: Charting New Waters
State of Watershed Payments 2012
By Genevieve Bennett, Nathaniel Carroll, Katherine Hamilton
State of Watershed Payments Report (Executive Summary for Business)
By Genevieve Bennett, Nathaniel Carroll - Forest Trends' Ecosystem Marketplace, Forest Trends' Ecosystem Marketplace
Trazando las Nuevas Aguas
By Genevieve Bennett, Nathaniel Carroll, Katherine Hamilton - Ecosystem Marketplace, Ecosystem Marketplace, Ecosystem Marketplace View Publication
State of Biodiversity Markets 2011
Offset and Compensation Programs Worldwide
By Becca Madsen, Nathaniel Carroll, Daniel Kandy, Genevieve Bennett View PublicationThis report is a companion paper to the initial report (State of Biodiversity Markets) that highlights the key developments over the past year. The report finds that global interest in biodiversity offsets and compensation has continued to develop over the past year – somewhat surprisingly, given the financial challenges that plague the private and public […]
¿Cómo puede beneficiar la financiación climática a las comunidades con bosques en pie?
Los esfuerzos mundiales para frenar el cambio climático dependen del fin de la deforestación ilegal o insostenible. La deforestación tropical y otros tipos de conversión del suelo son responsables del 20% de las emisiones mundiales. Proteger los bosques del mundo evita estas emisiones, protege la biodiversidad, proporciona hogares y medios de vida a las comunidades […]
Como o financiamento climático pode funcionar para comunidades com florestas em pé
Os esforços globais para conter as mudanças climáticas dependem do fim do desmatamento que é ilegal ou, ainda que legal, que é realizado de maneira insustentável. O desmatamento de florestas tropicais e outras conversões de terra são responsáveis por cerca de 20% de todas as emissões globais. A proteção das florestas de todo o mundo […]
How climate finance can work for communities with standing forests
Global efforts to curb climate change rely on putting a stop to deforestation that is illegal or unsustainable. Tropical deforestation and other land conversion account for about 20 percent of global emissions. Protecting the world’s forests prevents these emissions, safeguards biodiversity, provides homes and livelihoods for traditional communities, and can absorb as much carbon dioxide […]
New Opportunities for Tackling the Wildfire Crisis
On November 1st and 2nd, 2023, Forest Trends convened the Wildfire and Forests Innovation Summit in Denver, Colorado together with co-hosts and sponsors the USDA Forest Service, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Colorado Department of Natural Resources, the Colorado Forum, Colorado State Forest Service, and the Gates Family Foundation. This was an incredible gathering […]
China and Brazil have a joint commitment to end illegal deforestation driven by trade. What does this mean for major importers like the EU, UK, and US?
The EU’s new Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which prevents products linked to deforestation from entering the EU market, was just formally approved by the European Parliament on Wednesday. China and Brazil also recently unveiled their own collaborative effort in a new joint statement, emphasizing a shared commitment to eliminate illegal deforestation and prevent the illegal trade of […]
Carbon Markets at COP26: Here’s What to Watch for
A Q&A on carbon markets and COP (Article 6, improving market transparency and quality, and reasons for optimism) with Stephen Donofrio, Director of our Ecosystem Marketplace initiative, and Genevieve Bennett, our Director of Communications. Genevieve Bennett: Hi Stephen! COP26 starts this weekend. How are you preparing right now? Stephen Donofrio: It’s been busy! After […]
However You Look at It, Our Future is Forests
Debates about carbon offset types and REDD+ are important, but what ultimately matters is scaling tropical forest finance fast with integrity, and making sure that forest communities are at the table. Tropical forests are a key tool for near-term emissions reductions as part of a larger strategy to meet Paris climate targets. A portfolio of […]
Is Net Zero the Next Big Thing in SRI?
A conversation on going beyond “low carbon” in socially responsible investing with Rupert Edwards, our Senior Advisor on Carbon & Finance, and Genevieve Bennett, our Director of Communications and Strategic Outreach. Genevieve Bennett: We saw BlackRock chief Larry Fink’s annual client letter this month calling the climate transition a “historic investment opportunity” and asking companies […]
How to Redesign Climate Funding to Better Support the Amazon’s Indigenous Communities
International climate funding, including the REDD+ mechanism, is falling short when it comes to supporting indigenous forest guardians in the Amazon and elsewhere in the world, according to a panel of experts convened on Thursday, December 10th for a virtual roundtable on the subject. The discussion, hosted by Forest Trends and moderated by Andrew Revkin […]
The Western Fight Against Biodiversity Loss Needs More Indigenous and Local Community Perspectives
When most of us think of conservation, we think of remote, wild places. In the United States, the National Park system often represents this ideal. Elsewhere, iconic landscapes like the Serengeti in Tanzania or the rainforests of the Amazon and southeast Asia come to mind. For over a century, the conservation model has been dominated […]
Indigenous Communities are the Last Defenders of the Amazon. They’re Being Devastated by COVID-19.
Brazilian deforestation surged 34 percent in 2019 as President Jair Bolsonaro relaxed restrictions on development in the Amazon. Now COVID-19 is spreading across indigenous territories – threatening the people who have long served as guardians of the forest. In the 1980s, a young chief of the Kayapó people emerged from the Brazilian Amazon to save […]
How to Plant a Trillion Trees and Get Real Climate Results
The world is rallying around planting trees for climate action. Even President Donald Trump is on board, announcing last week at the World Economic Forum that the US would join the One Trillion Trees Initiative. In the next ten years, you will likely see the largest effort in history to regreen the planet. The United […]
Five Things We Can Do in the Next 24 Months to Mobilize Major Investments in Ecosystem Restoration and Climate Resilience
In the next decade, the world will probably see the biggest ecological restoration effort in history. We have seen a recent wave of major commitments to large-scale landscape restoration. In pursuit of natural climate solutions and the Sustainable Development Goals, nearly $1.5 billion was pledged by donors in the fall of 2018 in the wake […]
The Astonishing Opportunities in Our “Hidden Infrastructure”
It’s Infrastructure Week in the United States. Communities across the country are discussing how to #BuildForTomorrow by restoring and improving the nation’s infrastructure. Our water system is broadly supported by two types of infrastructure: the “gray infrastructure” of pipes, pumps, and treatment facilities – and the “green infrastructure” of our forests, grasslands, wetlands, and natural […]
A Dispatch from Peru for World Water Day
Today is World Water Day – but in Peru, celebrations have been going on all week. Peru has transformed its water sector. Less than a decade ago, it was a country where water utilities were not allowed to invest in conserving watersheds upstream of their intakes. Now every utility nationwide sets aside a portion of […]
How to Rebuild Global Carbon Sinks
This is part two of our series A Financial Architecture to Rebuild Carbon Sinks. One: Carbon Sinks are Our Best Climate Hedge. So Where’s the Money? Two: How to Rebuild Global Carbon Sinks Three: A New Forestry Investment Strategy for the Private Sector Land-based carbon sinks – the forests, wetlands, and other ecosystems that pull […]
Carbon Sinks are Our Best Climate Hedge. So Where’s the Money?
This is part one of our series A Financial Architecture to Rebuild Carbon Sinks. One: Carbon Sinks are Our Best Climate Hedge. So Where’s the Money? Two: How to Rebuild Global Carbon Sinks Three: A New Forestry Investment Strategy for the Private Sector Land-based carbon sinks – the forests, wetlands, and other ecosystems that pull […]
Looking Back on Two Decades in the Greater Mekong: “We Can Prevent Deforestation Long Before it Happens.”
What is the greatest driver of global deforestation? The answer may surprise you. Illegal deforestation persistently undermines global efforts to fight climate change. For that reason, for nearly twenty years Forest Trends has pioneered new strategies for tracing the flows of illegal timber across the world, and for working in both producer and consumer countries […]
Catalyzing Shared Investments in Working Forests
Sustainably managed working forests provide not just wood and fiber, but a range of other benefits: clean water, wildlife habitat, carbon storage, flood protection, recreational and cultural values, and more. Scaling up investments in sustainable forest management can generate financial returns for good stewardship of these multiple conservation values. The United States Forest Service (USFS) […]
US and Canadian Governments Invest US $27.5 Million in Innovative Natural Infrastructure Program to Deliver Water Security and Climate Resilience for Peru
The two countries are supporting a collaborative effort spanning government, businesses, communities, and civil society in Peru to protect the natural systems – grasslands, forests, and wetlands – that can help safeguard water supplies today, and for future generations. Importantly, this new investment in natural infrastructure will improve water security not only for major cities such as Lima, Cusco, Arequipa, Piura, and Moquegua, but also for the small towns and rural communities in Peru’s highlands.
For Cusco, Peru, an Investment in the Countryside Is an Investment in the City
Lake Piuray supplies nearly half of Cusco’s potable water, making it a critical resource for this growing city that is also one of Peru’s most important tourism hubs. There’s something else special about the lake: it is the focus of an innovative agreement between Cusco’s water utility, SEDACUSCO, and rural communities located upstream around the lake. SEDACUSCO has committed a portion of water user tariffs to protecting water quality by expanding access to rural sanitation and compensating land managers who implement sustainable agriculture and conservation practices. The agreement has increased water security for both rural communities and urban water users, and provided a platform for dialogue and cooperation.