"Questions raised about Finnfund's support to Tozzi Green's land grab for carbon plantations in Madagascar" - REDD Monitor, 14 August 2026

"Communities living on the Ihorombe plateau accuse Tozzi Green of land grabbing. They have been protesting against the company's operations for more than a decade." In 2012, the government of Madagascar leased almost 7,000 hectares of land in the Ihorombe region to JTF Madagascar, a Tozzi Green subsidiary, with a further 4,000 hectares leased in 2018. Tozzi Green describes the land as "originally degraded and marginal land," claiming to be "saving it from desertification." But "the reality is that communities were using the land to graze their cattle and to grow food for their families." "Tozzi Green promised improvements for the local population, including building schools and infrastructure and providing jobs for young people. But the company has not fulfilled all its promises and the local population feels cheated," said Mamy Rakotondrainibe, executive director of Collectif TANY.

In 2020, Finnfund and BIO invested €7.5 million in JTF Madagascar. In December 2025, Collectif TANY and five other local organisations wrote to Finnfund, BIO and carbon certification company Verra, pointing out "that the majority of people living in the area did not agree to leasing the land to Tozzi Green" and demanding that the company not expand its tree plantations. The project's carbon credit additionality claim, moreover, makes "no mention of the €7.5 million that Tozzi Green received from Finnfund and BIO — which is presumably what is paying for the tree planting operations." Jenni Mölkänen of the University of Eastern Finland told Hufvudstadsbladet: "The rules of the game change when the partner shifts from local civil society organisations to companies. A company's ultimate aim is to generate profit for itself… This affects the kind of society that is built: who benefits and who does not?"

Finnfund's director of sustainability Kaisa Alavuotunki told Hufvudstadsbladet that Finnfund "has seen the tangible benefits" of the project and is "in constant contact with Tozzi Green's project company," while acknowledging "local tensions." When asked about unfulfilled promises to communities, she said: "We cannot speak on behalf of the company, and I do not wish to dispute people's experiences. If people feel that not all agreements have been fulfilled, this is precisely the sort of issue it is important to discuss through dialogue." Tozzi Green did not respond to REDD Monitor's request for comment.