Michael Metz is initiator and co-founder of DeLaSelva eG. The cooperative has set itself the mission of marketing products from sustainable smallholder agriculture and forestry in tropical forest regions that make a positive contribution to forest restoration and conservation, biodiversity and climate protection – and to compensate the producers for this added value. Michael holds a degree in geography and has already worked for several NGOs in the field of conservation and restoration of tropical forests with a focus on Central and South America. He also worked for many years for a project developer who was one of the first to launch commercial reforestation projects with native tree species in mixed forests in Costa Rica as a sustainable investment for private investors. It is his ambition to think ecology and economy together and, in this way, to mobilize more private capital to restore tropical forest ecosystems – and to improve the living conditions of local smallholders.