Collection of plastic bottles event from December 2011 (Courtesy of Banco del Bosques)

“One bottle = one square metre” the green-capped Villavicencio water bottle reads. Emiliano Ezcurra is the director of an Argentine NGO that is helping people use their plastic bottles to save the country’s forests. “We buy the forests and then comes the revolution,” he announces.

We hear so many statistics about deforestation, most of us have become numb to them. Every minute an area the size of three football pitches is cleared in the Amazon; in the ‘Gran Chaco Americano’, a vast forest that binds Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia, tens of thousands of hectares are chopped down every month. The figures are staggering but few people believe they can do anything about it. Some, fortunately, do.

A dyed-in-the-wool environmentalist, Ezcurra spent his working life since he was 16 at Greenpeace, before launching ‘Banco de Bosques’ in 2010. He speaks with a passion and authority that is fitting of his experience; his enthusiasm, it would seem, has not dwindled.

Put simply, the NGO – The Forest Bank, in English – is working to save Argentina’s forests. Its focal point is ‘La Fidelidad’ a 250,000-hectare chunk of land in the Chaco forest that they are in the process of buying to turn into a National Park. People who want to contribute to the project use their website – available in four languages – to donate money to save parts of the forest. They scan the website’s satellite images, find a bit they like and “buy” it. Land in the forest is surprisingly cheap but you can only purchase it in large quantities, that’s why the NGO’s role is essential.

But ‘Banco de Bosques’ isn’t just about collecting money. Their innovative fundraising scheme has been getting people to use something they normally throw away, for good. If people don’t want to donate money, they can donate plastic bottles instead. The company then sells the bottles to recycling plants and uses the money to buy the land.

“The idea of collecting plastic bottles came about when [social activist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee] Juan Carr proposed that instead of people paying for a concert [we were organising] with money, they could bring plastic bottles.” Ezcurra explains. “Around two bottles – less in fact – buys you a square metre of forest… When they give bottles, they feel involved in the campaign.”

The project teamed up with Villavicencio, the country’s biggest drinking water company, to encourage people to get involved. Ezcurra hopes that in three years, they will have bought all 250,000-hectares which they will give to the state to make a National Park.

When you zoom out from ‘La Fidelidad’ on the website’s satellite imagery, it can be a little disheartening. What appeared to be an enormous mass of land is gobbled up by the huge swathes of forests surrounding it that are still potentially threatened by deforestation. But ‘La Fidelidad’ is just the tip of the iceberg for Ezcurra and his team, they are onto something much bigger “Banco de Bosques isn’t just about protecting forests, it’s about managing forests.”

Deforestation map on Banco de Bosques website

What they want to do is show that forests aren’t just beautiful trees loved by botanists; they can also be the source of profit making enterprises. “If we can make forests profitable, they don’t need to be destroyed,” he says.

Forests are full of small-scale profit turning opportunities, Ezcurra says, like, among others, ecotourism, organic honey production and fruit picking. They can make money and that, he believes, is the key to their survival.

A person chaining himself to a tree isn’t a viable type of activism anymore – to secure forests’ safety in today’s market-driven society, you have to make them attractive where it counts – financially. “With 1000 hectares of forest in the Chaco, you can make a profit. It doesn’t matter if it’s less or more than what you could do with soy, what matters is that it’s profitable.”

Can you really convince somebody who wants to plant highly profitable soy fields to stick with the forest and invest in ethical products instead? Ezcurra thinks so. “If people want to cut down the forest to plant soy we can say ‘No, what you’re doing has a negative effect on society – you can make money off this forest.’” It’s all about plain talking and being realistic. “’Maybe you won’t be able to buy a Ferrari, but you’ll be able to buy a [Volkswagen] Bora – it’s a good car.’”

Forests are in danger and Banco del Bosques are working to save them.

Emiliano Ezcurra calls himself a financial activist these days – he wants to take investment funds’ money away from destructive practices to channel them into positive projects and he’s confident there is a market for it. “There are a lot of investors who don’t want to work with forest-destroying projects anymore.”

In a few years he wants to have founded ‘Banco de Bosques Investments’, a green organisation that can compete with other investment companies and use its capital for good, supporting small enterprises that work with forests.

It’s all part of a bigger vision for society that goes at a healthier more sustainable pace. “We need a more intelligent economy, one that is adapted to nature,” he says. “You don’t adapt the forest to suit production; you adapt production to suit the forest.” Why? “Because nature doesn’t forgive,” and he sees us facing difficulties if we don’t act soon.

So much of the country’s forests have already been chopped down and deforestation is still going on at an alarming rate but Ezcurra is confident that his team can still win. “It’s like we’re losing three nil and there are 15 minutes left but we’re on the pitch and we can turn the result around.” A wry smile. “It takes balls and we’ve got plenty.”

A firm handshake, a swift goodbye and he’s off. There’s a German group interested in the project and he needs to go to Iguazu to meet them. The previous week he met with people from HSBC and they loved it. Maybe he’s on to something with this financial activism. 15 minutes left? Plenty of time.