Our mission is to conserve and restore as much forest in Asia as possible
What we do
Vana aims to build a supportive ecosystem of nature-based solutions and enabling technologies that protect and regenerate forests.
What makes Vana different
Vana invests in sustainability solutions that have a strong value-add to large-scale operations, without compromising bottom lines.
Our Story
Vana is a joint venture from Philippe Lenain and Tom Holland, on personal missions to protect and restore forests and other ecosystems in Asia.
The idea for Vana emerged from a corporate social responsibility drive by Rent2Own, a company founded by Philippe and Tom, now the largest rural non-bank financial institution in Myanmar.
The initiative saw over 300,000 trees planted, but seeing a greater need to go beyond corporate social responsibility and make reforestation bankable and attractive to private investment, they founded Vana in 2019.
We have since had our pilot win support from NGOs such as RECOFTC and The Nature Conservancy, and developing capabilities in fields such as consulting to build a holistic ecosystem for a sustainable future.
Why nature?
The climate crisis has made consistent headlines, but we see this as just one facet of a broader environmental decline threatening human survival.
Nature-based solutions (NbS) are the key to achieving climate, biodiversity, and land restoration co-benefits, but is facing an annual investment gap of USD 330 billion needed within this decade to do so.
Why Asia?
Asia has arguably been the most industrious and fastest growing region in the last century, and much of this has been at the expense of its environment, relying on cheap fossil fuels and labour.
But while it hosts by far the greatest population and biomass globally, attention to sustainability has been focused elsewhere, particularly with regard to carbon markets, currently the most liquid market-based mechanism for nature. We see opportunities to synergise with this solutions-based outlook with bankable investments in sustainability.