Local hero: Omari Bowers - A new leaf

By Victoria Purcell on May 14th 2010

Helping to save the rainforests is not enough for local businessman Omari Bowers, 33. Inspired by street kids in Brazil, he is even building a school, finds Lee Cheshire

I went to Northbrook Church of England School in Lee, Haberdashers’ Aske’s in New Cross, then to the University of North London. After university I worked for several large financial firms in the City and I also dabbled in the property game, buying properties for myself, friends and family. It got to the stage where I was making more money through property than my day job. I had to make a decision: either stay in employment or work for myself. So I decided to start my own property development company.

That’s when I met my current business partner, Andrew Skeene. We were always looking at emerging markets, always on the hunt like any good entrepreneur should be. We were making good money in the property industry but we were always looking to see what banks and hedge funds were doing. We found out they were buying up huge tracts of land abroad – in Brazil, in India, in Ukraine. So we started to investigate and found out they were buying it for forestry.

We bought some land in Brazil and set up Global Forestry Investments. We help people buy their own trees, then manage it for them for 25 years. It’s a safe investment compared to property or stocks and shares. And because the trees release oxygen into the atmosphere it’s good for the environment, too.

If someone buys an acre’s worth of trees, we buy the same amount which will be left untouched and not harvested. You have illegal forestation which is just slash and burn. What we are doing as a company is the complete opposite. All our plantations are grown in an ethical manner. We are helping to preserve the forests in Brazil.

Now we have offices in Sao Paulo, London and Dubai. It means lots of air travel but it’s worth it. One minute we could be in the office, the next in a rainforest!

During our last trip to Brazil there were one or two incidents that really touched us. I have a seven-year-old son, and we came out of a nightclub at 5am (obviously, after a long hard week) and there was a boy of the same age selling chewing gum. Andrew started speaking to him, then turned to me and said: “He looks just like your son”. It was at that moment we realised there are a lot of kids out there who don’t have the opportunity for education.

So, we’re building a school right next door to our plantation for the management company and their families. In addition to that, we are building a performing arts and sports facility for kids in the local area, to enhance their skills and find the talent in these impoverished areas.

To find out more see www.globalforestryinvestments.com            

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