āluān & EcosystemImpact

Jane is Founder CEO of āluān and EcosystemImpact, integrating economy, ecology and people.

Jane has worked globally at the intersection of conservation & sustainable finance with Fauna & Flora International (FFI) and Macquarie Bank; Mirrova; Oxfam and the World Bank. She has in-depth experience on land rights, social justice, Indigenous Peoples and conservation.

After experiencing first hand what was possible with a dynamic and holistic global partnership between FFI & Macquaire Capital, and then seeing it combust with the crash of the carbon markets/financial crises, Jane set about building āluān & EcosystemImpact from scratch in a single landscape. Aceh Indonesia—where elephants, rhinos, orangutan & tigers co-exist, and turtles nest on beaches every night of the year.

Jane lives in Aceh with her family where she has worked following the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2006. She holds a bachelor of law (first class honours) and bachelor of geography.

āluān and EcosystemImpact are sister organizations. A real-life model to heal our planet and achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by incorporating all pillars of sustainability -- social, environmental, economic (and, political) -- in a critically important landscape: Sumatra Indonesia.

Āluān is a women-led sustainable coconut business with transparency from farm to buyer whilst conserving globally important ecosystems in Sumatra where pressure from palm oil is immense. āluān produces the highest quality, organic raw virgin coconut oil for clients who care about their supply webs, including Lush cosmetics. By being engaged in the political economy of the Sumatran landscape, we address systemic issues.

EcosystemImpact provides immediate solutions to urgent problems of biodiversity and habitat loss through ranger programmes, breeding programmes and habitat protection. Long term solutions focus on relationship building, sustainable business and education. Sustainable financing structures will avoids boom & bust cycles entrenched in traditional donation-based conservation.

Environmental challenges

- 5% of all global GHG emissions are from Indonesia, mostly from forestry/land-use sector.

- Systemic political-business alliances for extractive business-as-usual business models. Few (if any) proven business models to revitalize the agriculture sector, sustainably.

- Coconut products face increases in demand while annual average production decreases: in Asia, productivity is estimated to decline more than 80 percent by 2027 due to aging trees. Aging coconut trees drastically reduces farmer incomes & threatens culture. 
Palm oil companies (typically conglomerates) can raise finance to replant. Almost impossible for coconut farmers, who are typically smallholders (90%) with no ability to invest in the future.

- Pressure for on-going palm oil expansion if coconut sector replanting/revitalisation is not progressed. 


- Low levels of conservation finance, and not sustainable year-on-year (boom/bust). Sometimes this is worse than doing nothing.

Financial challenges

- Lack of patient investment capital. Maximum 5-year turn-arounds do not align with the replanting of agriculture commodities, especially coconuts.

- Lack of (appropriate) investment finance in early stage businesses in this sector. 


- Time consuming to bridge with the vast 
international opportunities whilst focusing on the need to build on the ground.

Positive environmental impact is our raison d’etre. Our Theory of Change is that given the political economy of Indonesia (where environmental destruction is closely tied to entrenched politics, finance and business) the protection of nature requires much more than siloed conservation programs. Job creation and economic development is also critical. 

To this end, we have built a company that focussed on the agricultural sector. We have a Singapore based holding company (Green Enterprises Pte Ltd) that has 100% beneficial ownership of PT Green Enterprises Indonesia, trading as āluān. We have also established an Indonesian Foundation, Yayasan Ecosystem Impact. Together, these businesses hone in on addressing the political economic of environmental destruction in Indonesia in its myriad forms alongside targeted species conservation to save species on the brink of extinction before it is too late.

The organisations have shared founders and operate via a Memorandum of Understanding. Sustainable financing is embedded via profit-sharing and a Green Impact Bond that provides 2% of annual interest to EcosystemImpact.

We are women led, with a female Founder-CEO; Indonesian Company Director (Whitley Conservation Award Winner Farwiza Farhan); and General Manager (Irna Susrianti). These women are disrupting cultural norms in Indonesia's only province with Syariah law.  

An alternative to the traditionally destructive palm oil model, āluān is now working with 500 smallholder farming families, on 2600 hectares of land, to source coconuts through farmer field schools. This includes organic certification, improving productivity of farms, replanting coconuts, and better planning for conservation and sustainability. We employ 60+ people (50% women) our our greenfields processing facility. This is our pilot. We are ready to work with others to grow.

EcosystemImpact protects turtle nests from being poached every single night of the year. Turtle egg poaching has been reduced from up to 1,500 eggs a night down to 0. We are working closely with the international community, researchers, government and forest-edge villagers to reduce poaching of songbirds that are illegally traded. And we are building foundations for a unique learning hub with a local base and global reach.

We are deeply embedded within the community of Simeulue & Bangkaru Islands.

We are bridging needs and opportunities in one of the most important ecosystems on the planet. The organisations we have created are serving nature, people and economy in the landscape in which we operate - Aceh, Sumatra Indonesia - whilst bridging to global opportunities and addressing global issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss and social inclusion.

I finished university (Law & Human Geography) on an exchange programme to Singapore which led to Aceh Indonesia -- where āluān and EcosystemImpact operate today.  A wild place where orangutans, tigers, rhinos and elephants still co-exist and turtles nest every night of the year. And which was just emerging from an unprecedented natural disaster and 30 year civil conflict – hence its forests remain intact whilst the rest of Sumatra was obliterated. For 10 years, starting in Aceh and ending up in tropical forests globally from Liberia and Mozambique to Ecuador and Peru -  I had the opportunity to delve into conservation and sustainability and to work on everything from mapping land and resource rights with Indigenous Peoples to supporting the Governor of Aceh negotiating the world’s first carbon agreement with Meryl Lynch.  

From all of this we saw the potential – but it needed new organisations that could bridge worlds. Bottom-up; top-town, and all of the nuances in between.  Organisations led and supported by people that understood the political economy of this place and could operate within it whilst swinging the pendulum towards positive change. From that, āluā and EcosystemImpact were born.

I grew up inspired by Anita Roddick of the BodyShop & Nelson Mandela – I had an insatiable appetite to read books about them. 

I went to law school which I loved & achieved a first class honours degree. When my classmates received bottles of Moet as a congratulations for their summer clerkship I knew I needed to search a little wider.

I took a semester off University and spent a 6 months in Sabah Malaysia on a youth development programme. After that I travelled through Sabah, Brunei and Sarawak on my own. It was a strange experience. I remember a 12 hour bus ride through Sarawak and only seeing charred earth and budding palm oil seedlings in the ground. That had an impact.

At university I was part of the student environmental group. I shared their concerns about the environment but sometimes struggled with the activist mentality – I’ve always felt more inclined to collaborate. 

I have always been a hard worker. I’m not sure where that drive comes from, but I have a burning flame inside. There is so much that we can do to create the world that we want to live in.

Sometimes this is only clear upon reflection. Looking back on my life and career to date I see that I am indeed uniquely positioned to deliver on this project.

I love Aceh, her people and her wildlife. My heart yearns for nothing more than to dedicate my life to conserving their beautiful place. To building organisations that support Aceh, her forest, wildlife and people. That bridge between the old and the new.

My background in law and conservation and the networks I have built over more than 10 years in this sector are all coming to fruition now. 

I look back now on my years reading everything I could about Anita Roddick and Nelson Mandela. The hard work. The learning. The work I have done to know myself. Now is the time to deliver on all of this. To serve the world by building the world I wish to live in.

I am a bridge between Aceh and the world; between the old and the new. It is an honour, a obligation, and a privilege.   

When the opportunity arose to lead āluān company I had an 18 month old daughter and a 5 year old son. It wasn’t easy stepping back into work, let alone a start-up business that is turning the tide against business as usualy and needs a similar depth of love, care and attention (if not more) as my young children. 

The challenges are immense. They hone your intuition and you can only be authentic -- there is no space for facades.

We live on an island called Simeulue Sumatra where our children cannot go to school (we are foreigners). This month a world-class Green School sustainability educator will join us to found a ‘learning’ programme in collaboration with Green School.

We are turning this challenge into an opportunity to build a unique learning environment for our children that others will also benefit from, including Sumatran Youth and people globally. Our vision is to remodel education for sustainability and to share and accelerate our work via āluān and EcosystemImpact through sharing/education.

In early 2020 one of our investors declined a 2nd phase of investment (our CFO and other investors’ were most frustrated by this). 

Covid-19 presented an opportunity to raise grant finance via the same investor through a government programme, however, they appeared closed to suporting us. The opportunity would have enabled our staff to receive financial support at a very challenging time for them. Our staff were on home leave as Lush – our Foundational buyer -- closed all 600 stores globally and our orders stopped.

I spent a weekend and worked late into a Saturday night preparing a case (we were isolating at the time so had no support for the kids). Frustration, tiredness and sadness for our staff who were struggling to provide for their families were put to the side. I presented a strong case and also did some social media posts to highlight the economic conditions that our staff were facing.  

The same investor ended up passionately lobbying for us to receive the finance.

We received more finance than requested via a interest free finance facility (USD60k). This enabled us to unlock USD250k as part of our current finance raise.  

We are a business that gets actively involved in conservation. This disrupts the political economy of business in Sumatra Indonesia.'

We are the largest tax payers in our districts. This makes us important economic actors. This gives us a seat at the decision-making table. 

We employ people. This gives us respect and value to decision-makers. 

This is disruptive. 

This is our we can protect the environment. By integrating economic solutions alongside ones that preserve culture, ecology and wildlife. 

2020:

- āluān direct employees: 70 people at factory; 3500 individuals (farming families) suppliers

- EcosystemImpact direct employees: 10

- Ecosystem service benefits: 100,000 people from a healthier ecosystem. 

2021: 150 people at factory; YoY growth of farming families benefiting has significant growth potential up to 50,000 people plus in Simeulue island. 

2021: growth to mainland Aceh. Potential to impact 100,000 Aceh individuals dependent on coconut farming. 

A Fund will initially focus on investments into āluān’s coconut replanting program on the island of Simeulue, Sumatra Indonesia. It will then move to mainland Sumatra. Upfront conservation finance to conserve critical species and habitats will be provided initially through grants and then through annual interest payments to sister organisation EcosystemImpact. The Fund has potential to be scaled alongside āluān and other coconut businesses as well as other smallholder agricultural supply webs (cocoa, coffee, patchouli rubber, palm oil), and with companies including Unilever as last resort buyer and Lush as boutique 'new world' buyers. Round 1 investment is US$1.6 million: US$1 million debt, US$300,000 equity, US$300,000 grant.

The Fund addresses the challenge of unsustainable and environmentally destructive agriculture business models in Indonesia. A typical palm oil model involves large-scale deforestation and mono-cropping. Expansion of coffee and cocoa farms are also presently causing deforestation in Sumatra. All of this is actively diminishing biodiversity.

The Fund will benefit smallholder farming households by boosting productivity through the replanting of senile coconut trees, new planting on degraded land, and intercropping. This will be undertaken alongside agricultural extension services, organic-certification, and market access support. Positive environmental impacts include: i) avoided use of chemicals from insecticides and pesticides, ii) forest and wildlife conservation. 

All of this will support EcosystemImpact and other partner's conservation work. 

Financial limitations are our primary one. 

• Lack of patient investment capital. Maximum 5-year turn-arounds do not align with the replanting of agriculture commodities, especially coconuts.

• -  Lack of investment finance in early stage businesses in this sector.

• -  Difficulty bridging sustainable conservation & business activities in frontier landscapes with the international community and the opportunities.

• Very little finance is flowing into replenishing the stock of long-term agricultural assets in Indonesia (other than large-scale oil palm). Consequently, more sustainable and biodiverse crops are neglected, as are smallholder farmers. This is a result of: 1) the long payback periods (which are particularly long for coconut palm), and 2) risks associated with land and resource rights under large land acquisition models. Furthermore, outside of forest carbon financing funds, we are unaware of any agriculture/replanting programs that also explicitly focus on conservation. 

Market barriers: buyers for coconut oil that value our work and transparent supply chains. Overcoming tariff issues (into the US and the EU vis a vis the Philippines especially). 

We have significant human resource limitations out here in Simeulue, but these can be overcome through finance; technology; and creating a fun and dynamic organisational culture. 

Finances: keep going! We will get there once we reach a comfortable scale. The early years are always challenging. We will keep building on all partnerships through our genuinely impactful and authentic approach. We will get over the hump and it will get easier. In the meantime -- any partners who can soften our challenges until we get over the hump and transition away from the old business as usual to the new business as usual are like gold to us!

The Elevate Prize will be extremely helpful in terms of assisting with story telling; communication; profile; and networks. It will enable us to accelerate.  

- Lush Cosmetics. www.lush.com. Foundational buyer; donor for our coconut replanting programme. Partner in growing sustainable supply webs. We have a deep relationship that is mutually beneficially. 

- IIX, Growth Fund. https://iixglobal.com/iix-grow... Major equity financiers since 2017, advisors. Mentors. Also support our Singapore company administration/director. 

- Silkstone Partners. https://www.silkstonepartners.... Financier (minority equity stake). Mentor. 

- Pacsafe. www.pacsafe.com. Finance our turtle conservation work. Looking to grow this to include fully integrated post-consumer ocean bound plastic products. 

- IUCN Specialist Group on the Asian Songbird Crisis. https://www.iucn.org/commissio...

- HAkA, and Farwiza Farhan (our Indonesian company director). https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

- Mahi Mahi Eco Resort. www.mahimahisurfresort.com

- BKSDA Aceh wildlife agency. MoU for turtle conservation; bird conservation on Bangkaru & Simeulue islands. We provide 7 rangers on Bangkaru island who support BKSDA to reduce sea turtle poaching to 0. 

- Simeulue Government. Close collaboration with District Head office; Ocean/Fisheries; Environment Depts. 

- The Turtle Foundation https://www.turtle-foundation.org/. Funding & technical collaboration. 

- @PaulHiltonPhotos / Earthtree Films: partnership for incredible photo journalism/wildlife photography/films. 

Impact:

• -  By financing replanting and intercropping programs in Simeulue and other parts of Aceh, the Fund will have a triple bottom line return, generating social and environmental impact alongside the generation of financial returns. The primary impact will be generated through the replanting projects with smallholder farmers. As such, the ultimate beneficiaries of the vehicle will be: smallholder farming households will benefit from increased productivity at farms – replanting, intercropping, organic-certification, agro-economic assistance etc. – resulting in: i) increased income from growth in yield per hectare (note that we expect a 400% increase in yield between old trees currently being harvested and new trees being planted), ii) increased savings from decreased expenses on insecticides and pesticides, iii) diversify income streams to increase income and resilience, and iv) gender-focused job creation to provide income security for women and their families.

• -  Positive environmental impacts include: i) avoided use of chemicals from insecticides and pesticides, ii) ecosystem regeneration from enhancement of agricultural areas, and iii) avoided ecosystem depletion through participatory sustainable land-use planning in the landscape that achieves community support through the integrated economic-environmental nature of the proposed plan, and a sustainable source of finance for ongoing conservation activities to preserve critical biodiversity in the landscape. 

āluān is a for-profit enterprise that will grow (sustainably) year on year.

Sustainable financing is embedded via profit-sharing as well as a Green Impact Bond that provides 2% of annual interest to EcosystemImpact. āluān and EcosystemImpact will lead on all Indonesia and landscape level operations. 

So, in addition to āluān activities including those that directly benefit conservation. The model of the company will eventually enable additional conservation benefits via profit sharing and green impact bonds. 

 “We are building new and replicable ways of doing things, in order to heal our planet. One day this will be the new norm – actually it will be even better than we can possibly imagine. But, we have work to do.  A healthy economy goes hand in hand with a healthy planet. The more that āluān grows, the more EcosystemImpact will grow, the more the planet heals. And so do we.”

Green Impact Bonds: $250,000

C4D Loan: $200,000 (15% interest, 5 year term)

Individual founder equity investors: $200,000. 

Equity, family & friends: $230,000. 

Institutional Equity investors: IIX $712,000; Silkstone Partners $20,000. 

Total investment including sweat from founders is $2M. We are currently closing an additional $400,000 investment to complete our greenfields factory and get to break even position. 

We have also raised $80,000 in grant finance for replanting and gender equity (Lush; Genesis and Virgin Unite).

We also raise $50,000/year for conservation work via the Foundation. 

$400,000 for greenfields factory/aluan growth/production.Debt or equity. 

$1.2 M for replanting programme. Debt & equity. 

$1M for Simeulue & Bangkaru wide conservation programme. Grant. 

āluān: $300,000. 

EcosystemImpact: $50,000. 

100% to accelerate & elevate!

We have laid a foundation to shift the pendulum away from destructive 'business-as-usual'. There are so many opportunities that we can act on. And we will do this no matter what. But with support from The Elevate Prize we will be able to accelerate. There is so much momentum behind the status quo -- we need to build a new community of people all working in unison to shift the tide in the other direction. Towards businesses and organisational structures that support sustainability; wildlife; social justice; and diversity. It is very rare to have these organisational structures in this part of the world. It is happening in the centres in Jakarta, but not in the periphery in places like Sumatra. 

Breaking down barriers and opening hearts & minds within our company: most of our staff have not left the island, or have only travelled to Sumatra. I would like to support THEM to have opportunities to learn, travel, be exposed, grow. These opportunities create massively disruptive changes in staff culture/open-mindedness - like a mini petri dish that starts within āluān and spreads out. 

Employee share scheme: Aim: to embed more ownership lovally. This will have a huge impact on equality; perception; impact; growth. 

Market access: Clients/buyers. 

Financing: appropriate finance at scale in order to break-even +++. Some of our current finance (e.g., C4D Partners Loan) is at an interest rate of 15%. We need to grow, scale, grow some more. 

Raising profile & story telling: One of our EcosystemImpact Ambassadors is @PaulHiltonPhotos. There is significant scope to make impactful videography/media resources to connect buyers & financiers.

For āluān - 

Buyers: Beyond Meat; Unilever; doTerra; PUIG. Cosmetics & health food buyers globally, that care about their supply chains. 
Unilever: for landscape transformation. Support to become the coconut oil supplier that all ethical/sustainable manufacturers must buy from. 

Financiers: that share our values; have patience; add value; support us to grow. Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. 

Unilever, Cargills or similar agricultural supply chain off-taker: large, agricultural investor who can invest in logistics; warehousing; logistics & production efficiencies. Interacting in a way that builds resilient, fair, sustainable supply webs that are good for people, animals and the planet. 

For EcosystemImpact

SeaLegacy; The Nature Conservancy

Both EcosystemImpact & āluān

Google - for spatial data/innovative partnerships. 

Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. 

Women supporting women-led businesses?

WE SPEND SO MUCH OF OUR TIME OUT HERE IN SIMEULUE ISLAND. WE HAVE DONE A LOT WITH THE NETWORKS AND OUTREACH THAT WE HAVE FOSTERED, BUT WITH ELEVATE WE COULD BE EXPOSED TO SO MANY MORE OPPORTUNITIES THAT WE ARE NOT EVEN AWARE OF.