TROPISMO - Creating markets. Restoring forests.

Tropismo is a start-up to create jobs processing fire-prone Eucalyptus into affordable lumber, meanwhile replanting harvest sites with native trees.

How can we employ low-skill laborers to prevent catastrophic fires, restore biodiversity, AND pay 10% return to investors?

Tropismo resolves multiple problems:

• Tragic losses and GHG emissions from forest fires
• Migration from rural areas
• Urban homelessness from underemployment & costly housing
• Rainforest logging for urban timber demand
• Continued investment in extractive industries

Tropismo generates meaningful work by transforming fire-prone Eucalyptus or Gum plantations into lumber, meanwhile replanting with native trees. We use cutting-edge machinery to produce affordable wood from unwanted forests. We apply efficient processing to create value, which in turn funds ecosystem restoration, designed to endure climate change and based on ancestral wisdom including dozens of species.

Eucalyptus Plantations Burn Hotter

Due to increasing drought from climate change, non-native Gum trees must urgently be eliminated. This is evident from recent blazes sweeping over three continents; forest fires in 2017 caused over $3 billion of damage in California alone. Gum is the species most susceptible to fire, as the leaves and bark harbor a flammable oil (Eucaliptol). The disinfectant resin also prevents leaf litter decay, leading to titanic fuel loads that intensify flames.

Dense plantations covering entire provinces encourage pest and pathogen epidemics. Moreover, an unhealthy Gum tree uses 50% more water and is at risk of mortality during drought; dead wood catalyzes epic fires.

Low Paper Pulp Value Prohibits Eucalyptus Forest Conversion

Gum forest-owners sell logs primarily to paper pulp mills that pay commodity prices ($15 per cubic meter). They planted Australian tree unaware of its propensity for extreme soil degradation, water table depletion, fire hazards and low value. Today these owners lack the know how for transforming Gum trees into marketable lumber or planting native hardwoods.

High Efficiency Funds Restoration

Our lumber manufacturing yield generates adequate profits to finance ecosystem repair. The Ecuadorian wood industry is documented to have 70% waste. We slash the losses with superior harvest methods, quarter-sawing techniques, solar drying kilns, and cutting-edge finishing.

Our restored green spaces in visible locations advertise our brand, an effective low-cost publicity. Tropismo wood is a locally-sourced, carbon neutral and seismic-resistant building material, priced for low-income housing. Both builders and environmentalists support our work as we satisfy the growing demand for lumber without Amazon rainforest logging.

We pay 10% annual return to investors, with an initial investment of $200,000 (small operation in Quito). Our exceptional techniques and direct sales generate handsome margins (estimated 25% IRR) so we can reinvest 20% of Pre-Tax profits towards renewing harvest sites.

We create a new income opportunity for forest owners by buying seed, like leguminous trees that improve degraded soils. Tropismo’s reforestation approach requires less maintenance than monoculture forestry, as well as guaranteeing rural landowners have diversified forest gardens with short-term crops and long-term timber harvests.

Scalable Model with Immediate Impacts

Our inexpensive steps will fit any of ninety nations with Gum forests. We provide extension training and employ rural entrepreneurs (native seed collection and reforestation) as well as urban dwellers (premium wood processing, cabinet making, flooring installation, marketing & sales).

Tropismo combines new technology and ancient knowledge:

1. We developed a Eucalyptus root extraction technique.

2. We will manage forests for maximum carbon capture, like Menominee (US) and Caboclos of Tapajos (Brazil).

3. We gleaned woodworking methods from four continents to manufacture affordable Gum lumber, better than any competitor. We will add Block Chain traceability.

4. Andeans planted biodiverse forestry plots for timber growth and soil fertility. We apply these ancestral reforestation techniques.

Our team refined steps 1,3 & 4, through product development and performance testing. The Menominee have implemented Step 2 for centuries.

Tropismo survives on advanced know how. Our production line relies on cutting-edge technology, typically unavailable in Ecuador. However, we apply ancestral wood curing, BioChar manufacturing and habitat restoration practices.  

Modern woodworking machinery is key for our high yield, exceptional quality, and affordability. We use imported electric saws, cables, lasers and power winches for speed, accuracy and job safety in our Eucalyptus harvest. For lumber curing and cutting, we have humidity sensors, solar kilns, band saws and precision planers. Our custom order prep, Block Chain traceability, superb finishing, and contemporary designs are technology components that define our competitive edge.

In 2019 we plan to process 150 giant Eucalyptus that threaten 2000 residents. We seek more orders and investors, to promptly import $100,000 of saws and planers (50% currently raised). The estimated lumber from these trees could build 50 wood-frame homes. 

For perspective, in 2017-2018 we eliminated 48 trees (avg. height = 120 ft, avg. diameter = 2 ft) at five sites. We worked with our basic gear, using $4000 from prepaid orders to pay help and rent machinery. We processed half the trees into superb lumber, but our methods fall short of the growing demand.

Tropismo can benefit millions of people. Three municipalities in Ecuador want to try our simple model in 2019-2020. With more investment, we can promptly employ thousands of staff to prevent tragic fires, manufacture affordable lumber and restore endangered ecosystems. 

By 2023, we plan to start trials in another country. Dozens of nations need for our business model and have the key components we look for: a) Eucalyptus plantations, b) ample demand for lumber, c) few modern sawmills. Tropismo can avert forest fires by replacing Eucalyptus, with native species to each region in Africa, Asia, Europe or even California.

Customers: The Tropismo team has met with 50 architects, builders, and carpenters who want our lumber. Over time, we plan to distinguish our product with Block Chain traceability to guarantee legal and ethical lumber sourcing. Finally, our excellence in cutting, curing and storage techniques give us the security to guarantee our lumber.  

Beneficiaries: We use our urban gardens and school visits to communicate habitat restoration and reduced fire risk benefits to urban residents. 

Communities: We have two decades of experience in rural community extension work, and will train native forest owners in seed collection and habitat restoration work.

Each week, thousands of residents in low income neighborhoods pass by at least one Tropismo forest garden. In 2015, the unkempt plots were only packed dirt, litter, weeds and grass tufts. Each year, we partner with residents and community boards in underprivileged districts to transform a bare lot into a lush green space. Today, families and shopkeepers maintain the five islands and enjoy hundreds of plants and trees that nourish dozens of Andean bird and insect species.

Our Eucalyptus removal benefits scores of families in six zones. With more machinery, we will open several kilometers of fire breaks each year.

We will expand to other municipalities in Ecuador, serving over one million people with reduced fire risk and thousands with biodiverse urban spaces.  

By the end 2019, we will find a region in Peru to implement our work over the next 3 years. Our target site is Lima, where we could help millions of people from the highland capital prevent fire risk.  

Once successful in Ecuador, we will export our IP, for decades of consistent Eucalyptus lumber supply and branding to establish adequate global demand.

We have the forestry and woodworking background to consolidate the lumber supply chain, and the extension skills to retrain small producers in our methods. Our experience and technical knowledge in marketing includes: branding, co-packing, distribution, promotion, social networking and customer service. For Block Chain traceability, we have a functional programmer and two great coders, who just need guidance from ConsenSys. 

An entrepreneur is willing to invest $50k, so we seek exposure to reach our $200k startup budget. Our economists plan to create lesser investment options, so residents from each urban location can securely invest in a nearby Tropismo harvest.

Tropismo creates diversified revenue:

a) landowners pay for Eucalyptus removal

b) builders & carpenters purchase Eucalyptus lumber

c) Tropismo products are sold to retailers and galleries.  

In Ecuador, Eucalyptus or Gum loggers earn $45 per ton ($15 per meter³). This is 1/10 hardwood log value in the United States. Gum flooring (harder than Oak) costs $8 per board foot in Quito, like U.S. Oak floors. Furthermore, labor and transport cost half as much in Ecuador. Finally, urban landowners often pay Tropismo for Eucalyptus removal, further increasing profits.  

Our model applies advanced know how, seldom applied in Ecuadorian lumber manufacturing. With more equipment, we can increase yield and approach U.S. efficiency levels. We will be the only legal lumber provider to guarantee quality and stability, with Block Chain traceability and humidity-controlled storage. To capture market share and secure demand for our brand, we will price similar to our competition.  

We consolidated the wood supply chain to generate a handsome manufacturing margin (projected 45% IRR), so we can invest 20% of PRE-TAX profits into Andean forest restoration.

Tropismo = affordable lumber + hundreds of jobs per city + 10% annual ROI + restored ecosystems

We seek international recognition, Block Chain training and investors for Tropismo.

MIT Solve is the paramount conduit to promote our novel business concept. Tropismo could easily scale in many nations currently at risk of Eucalyptus plantation fires and suffering ecological degradation. Our sustainable forestry model is designed to franchise in rural areas, as it provides training and ample labor opportunities for global citizens with little technological experience. 

Additionally, the Block Chain traceability we plan to develop for small landholders and local processing centers is an alternative to forestry certification programs designed for big forest owners selling to corporations.

Our limited network and distant location from Impact Investors or intercontinental retailers limit our fundraising capacity and market size, respectively. We need MIT Solve so the Tropismo model of opening breaks in Eucalyptus forest can spread across five continents faster than the fires. 

MIT Solve’s network and partnerships can catalyze our work to spark a global following so we can quickly raise capital for marketing campaigns and high-tech inventory production. To achieve our plan to franchise by 2025, we must attain maximum efficiency and premium quality for moving mammoth lumber volumes with international distribution.