ATICA's Division
Forest Plantation & Timberlands

Our Mission

As forestry consultants, this division's primary focus is to provide tree forestry and related services that enable our client's to "excel in their risk adjusted rate of returns" in the areas of both timberland hardwood and softwood productivity yields.

For hardwood plantation and softwood plantation forestry investors, and operators we offer world class organizations: i) forest and plantation enterprise planning, ii) silvicultural assessments, iii) property valuations, iv) proprietary log grading, v) supply chain yield analysis on both resource utilization & marketing effectiveness, and vi) organizational development (OD) consulting services.

Our Process

A typical incoming call from a forestry investor or those in forestry services are looking to either solve a problem or create an opportunity. Typically we are asked if we are able to:

Answer a set of specific questions relating to forestry insights including tree forestry practices, forestry business modeling and timber marketing and management issues.
Assist them in producing a working business simulation model that delivers both: a) Project feasibility reports and b) Financing packages (debt and equity)
iii) Provide them with one of our client self-diagnostic assessment instruments enabling them to zero in on and initiate their own organizational change process.

After the initial phone contact, for some signing a non disclosure agreement is mutually advisable.

Our Deliverable Commitment

For each and every client's engagement the projects: i) Specific deliverables and ii) Output metrics will uniquely vary from client to client.

Atica's affiliate role is to "assist our clients" to continually focus upon and improve their "risk adjusted rates of return" which includes: a) increasing productive conversion unit profits while b) reducing the costs of risk including cash-to-cash conversion cycles.

For example, some of the specific assignments and deliverables Atica’s affiliates have produced over the years includes the following results.

What We Have Produced

Genetics, silviculture and timber research and development at the university labs and field testing sites.
Documented success in large scale North American and Southern Hemisphere hardwood plantation and softwood plantation management.
Philosophies with practical hands-on approaches to all levels of forestry service business planning that are keenly rooted on a deep understanding of global wood products supply chain markets.
$US 3.0 billion of experience in timber marketing and management processes including specific methodologies of assessing, buying and selling timberlands.
Experienced facilitators in the use of Decision Quality Project Planning and Organizational Project Engagement and Alignment.
Practical and hands on approach to assessing, educating and training a clients professional staff in tree forestry management.
Collaborating to bring the most appropriate timber industry consulting resources together to meet our client’s current tactical and strategic long-term needs.
International, multicultural awareness, sensitivity and experience of all Atica affiliates.
Over thirty years of experience with effective tools in developing "continual learning", "high performing" forest and plantation management organizations.
A market based review of the most appropriate Tectonia grandis plantation management regimes and utilization strategies for teak plantations.
Major re-engineering of a clients large scale teak plantation management.
Design of a low cost hardwood plantation "just in time" production thinning / harvesting protocols and systems.
Due diligence and valuation of over 120,000 acres of timberlands properties in Oregon, Washington and Northern California for a conservation fund investors.
Selling and purchasing over 3.4 million acres of forests and Eucalyptus plantations for a major US forest Products Company throughout US and in Rio Grande de Sul in Brazil.
On the ground management of the operations associated with over 400,000 hectares of Radiata Pine, Eucalyptus, and Douglas Fir plantations in New Zealand, Chile and Australia.
Business management of advanced Radiata Pine and temperate Eucalyptus clonal nursery production.
Since 2000 design and management of a major wood supply assessments in Southern Oregon, Western Louisiana, Idaho, Southern Brazil and Region X and XI of Chile.
Re-design of the Idaho Department of Lands total business planning processes to meet new Land Board Asset management objectives. Included in this project was the first time valuation of all timber and land asset metrics.
Consulting support of the Idaho Department of Lands two year initiative to educate all agency staff on organizational change and more effective work teams.
Provide the USAID as a client logistics and educational reconstruction support to the major private voluntary organization engaged in tsunami reconstruction in Aceh, Indonesia.

Our People and Their Competencies

Laercio Couto, Ph.D - Atica Affiliate - Brazil
President, RENABI – National Network of Biomass for Energy
President, CBCN – Brazilian Center For Nature Conservancy - Brazil

Laercio Couto received his B. Sc. in Forestry from the Universidade Federal de Vicosa, Brazil; his M. Sc. in Forestry from the Universidade Federal de Vicosa, Brazil; his Ph.D. in Forestry from the University of Toronto, Canada and did his Post-doctorate work in Forestry and Agroforestry at Colorado State University, USA.

Dr. Couto’s extensive timber research and development and industrial hands-on background includes silviculture, forest management, biomass for energy and agroforestry ; practical industrial and field research in Sao Paulo, Paraná, Bahia and Pará states focusing mainly on various species including Pinus sp, Eucalyptus sp, Araucaria angustifolia, Coccus nucifera and Gmelina arborea as they relate to seedling production, forest plantations establishment and tending, harvesting and transportation, forest protection and forest products commercialization.

He has published more than 100 scientific papers and delivered numerous technical and academic presentations in Brazil and numerous other countries.

He has served as international consultant for the Brazilian Agency for: i) International Cooperation – ABC (forestry and environment); ii) GAPCO in Guinea; iii) Gutchess International Incorporated - ARACRUZ Wood Products in Brazil that concluded with the planning, design and installation of the biggest and most modern eucalypt based sawmill in the world, iv) Research Director of the Society for Forest Research; Forest Consultant to a) Ramires, b) Afortech, c) Tecflora, e) Palma Real EISA; v) Director of Forest Strategy of Timber Value; vi) Coordinator of the Agroforestry Research Group of the National Research Council-CNPQ; vii) Ad-hoc Research Consultant for CNPQ, viii) Embrapa and FINEP; ix) Member of the Editorial Board of the Canadian Forestry Chronicle; x) Brazilian Team Leader, Task 30 of IEA – Bioenergy; xi) International consultant for the Brazilian Agency for International Cooperation – ABC (forestry and environment) within Central América at large; Active with the Center for Nature Conservancy and Sustainable Development – CBCN; The Brazilian Society of Agroforestry – SBAG; The Brazilian Network of Biomass for Energy – RENABIO; and past head of the Department of Forestry of the Federal University of Vicosa, and the Administrative Director of the Society for Forest Research – SIF during 1989-1993.

David New, Atica Affiliate - USA
President, Growing Excellence Inc.

David New, a native of rural Indiana completed his studies at Purdue University in 1974. David then began his forestry service career in New Zealand working twenty-four years for Fletcher Challenge, a New Zealand based international timber industry firm with forest products, construction and energy interests throughout the world.

During his time with Fletcher Challenge, David worked as a District Forester and Chief Forester during a unique time of rapid global softwood plantation business growth for the company including extensive plantation management experience in New Zealand, Chile, Australia and Malaysia. He both participated in and led new business development assessments throughout much of Asia and South America, as well as major plantation acquisition projects in several countries as well as participating in the protocol development of the 1989 New Zealand Forest Accord.

From 1997 until February 2005, David served as Vice President of Timberland Resources for Boise Cascade Corporation managing over 2.5 million acres of forestland in six states and southern Brazil.

David is the President of Growing Excellence Inc. providing forestry service, forestry investment and forestry business improvement consulting services. Growing Excellence’s recent major clients include the Idaho Department of Lands, USAID, World Wildlife Fund, Ecotrust Forests and Conservation International.

During his career, he has been asked to work for and take on the responsibilities for operations in more than eight countries throughout the world. David lives in Boise, Idaho.

Mr. New is an active member of the Society of American Foresters and serves as a board member of The Mountain State Legal Foundation, Ecosystems Management Research Institute and NZCO2 Limited.