"Delivering impact at scale" is how Mark Wishnie, chief sustainability officer of BTG Pactual Timberland Investment Group (TIG), described the philosophy that has helped it win three Sustainable Investment Awards this year.

Named as the winner of this year's real assets manager of the year category, Wishnie explained the thinking behind its $1 billion programme in Latin America, which aims to protect and restore around 135,000 hectares of natural forests. A further 135,000 hectares will be developed for commercial land use.

In 2023, around 2,600 hectares of natural forest were regenerated, and more than five million seedlings planted through the programme. The programme will also conduct restoration training with local communities in the region, which will help meet growing demand from buyers looking for positive impact on society and nature.

TIG has partnered with Conservation International to help ensure it has positive climate and community impacts, Wishnie said, by co-designing its restoration plans and monitoring systems and co-authoring impact reports. Award judges praised this collaboration for providing "robustness" to the programme.

Taking the ESG innovation of the year (funds and portfolios) - Americas award, TIG impressed judges with its work alongside Brazil's University of Vicosa on a research study into restoration techniques across an 81-hectare field experiment. It looks to better understand the efficacy of techniques such as assisted natural regeneration, weed control and limestone application. TIG said it will use this to inform its strategy and plans for other restoration efforts. Judges described it as a "genuinely innovative project in an important area".

TIG's work is not limited to South America and over the last year has invested in over 19,000 hectares across West Virginia, Ohio and South Carolina in the US, which helped it secure the ESG investment initiative of the year, Americas category.

Working alongside The Nature Conservancy – which has acted as its conservation adviser – it has reviewed its US footprint and developed a new set of standards for environmental integrity, against which all investments will be evaluated. The collaboration has also introduced 'management interventions', which consider how to improve water quality and protect critical habitat biodiversity within its project sites.

"Innovation and collaboration are essential to realising the potential of sustainable forestry to deliver positive outcomes for people, nature and climate," said Wishnie. "For TIG, it was clear from the outset that in order to deliver these benefits in both the US and Latin America, we needed to forge relationships with create institutions that bring additional skills, expertise and capacity to the table.".

He said the award recognises not just its internal team but its collaboration partners "and all those who are working with us to deliver impact on the ground".