National Mitigation Banking Association Appoints Ben Guillon to Board

To Head New Committee on Financial Markets and Investment

Download this as a PDF

May 4, 2010

WASHINGTON, DC - New Forests Inc. is pleased to announce that Ben Guillon, who manages acquisitions for a $50 million private equity vehicle focused on the mitigation banking sector, has been elected to the board of the National Mitigation Banking Association (NMBA).

"We are very happy to welcome Ben Guillon to our Board of Directors," said Dave Urban, President of the NMBA. "His experience with international environmental markets and as an investor in mitigation banks across the country allows him to bring a unique perspective to our work. Together, we hope to work with bankers and regulators to understand how best to engage institutional investors in the growth of our industry."

The NMBA has a wide membership among mitigation bankers who are committed to advancing the role of mitigation banks as an economically efficient and environmentally beneficial tool for wetland and endangered species habitat restoration in the United States. The organization has over 60 members; Mr. Guillon joins a Board comprised of 12 Directors. The NMBA works actively with regulators and legislators to develop a strong legislative and institutional framework for the use of banks to satisfy mitigation requirements under the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act.

As a member of the NMBA's Board of Directors, Mr. Guillon will head a new committee on financial markets and investment. The Committee will focus on broadening the NMBA's base of membership to include more members of the financial community and will help advance legislation concerning the tax treatment of mitigation banks. "Through the hard work of previous NMBA board members, bills assuring the capital gains treatment of mitigation credit sales have now been introduced in both the House and Senate," said Mr. Guillon. "Our job now is to ensure that these measures succeed with support from existing and new members of the NMBA. I am looking forward to helping the Association ensure it is reaching out to investors consistently and effectively so that, together, we can see legislation passed that will help advance important environmental goals and investment in small businesses in this growing sector."

About New Forests

New Forests (www.newforests.com.au) is a funds management company specialized in timberland and associated eco products, such as carbon, biodiversity and water, for institutional and private equity clients. New Forests jointly manages the Eco Products Fund, LP (EPF), a private equity fund investing in a portfolio of ecosystem-based instruments associated with wetlands and endangered species conservation, forest and land-based carbon sequestration and water quality improvements in the United States and internationally. New Forests is headquartered in Sydney, Australia, with offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.