Florent Kaiser
on Global Forest Restoration
“I wake up every single time in the morning profoundly inspired by the work we do. I wish everybody on earth to feel and have that.”
For Florent Kaiser, purpose isn’t just a feeling. It is a journey: “As you move forward and find your mission, that’s what gifts you incredible strength and energy.” This inward reflection offers an understanding of what drives you in life. Florent never feels he’s ‘at work’ when working, which is why he is encouraging young people to look deep inside and ask themselves: “What is it that I really love to do?”
With an entrepreneurial mindset, he has never accepted the status quo. Never settled for “Oh, I just need to secure a job to enter the job market.” Instead, he knew that success meant not accepting the existing limitations. The key lay in meeting the right people to build on the right purpose.
Florent isn’t just in the “business of planting trees.” His life mission is a holistic effort to conserve and restore forests: “I see it as a symbol of hope, a feeling and living action, of people coming together to create magic.” He’s a passionate conservation entrepreneur dedicated to scaling solutions for the restoration and protection of the world's forest ecosystems. As the CEO of Global Forest Generation, he loves building alliances with global partners and has been involved in over 200 forest and land use projects worldwide.
Acción Andina, the large-scale community-led forest ecosystem restoration initiative he co-leads, received The Earthshot Prize and was recognized by the United Nations as a benchmark in large-scale ecosystem restoration: “We’re a new group with an old soul. The world wants to plant a trillion trees, but there are too few good projects, too little capacity on the ground, not enough long-term commitment, and the few local leaders that truly know how to engage their communities to restore their lands do not have the resources and partnerships to do so.”
For Florent, regeneration is not a radical discovery. It’s a rediscovery. A return to a way of life that sustained humans for millennia: “We already have a blueprint for living in harmony with nature - we practised it for most of human history- so a regenerative future is entirely possible! Scientists have spent decades proving why we need forests. Now, we need a new generation of entrepreneurs to take that wisdom and turn it into action, setting up the operations, logistics, and leadership to implement change at an unprecedented scale.”
Read Florent Kaiser’s answers for Inspirators and don’t hesitate to look inwards – treasures are waiting to be discovered!
Thank you, Florent, for being a Global Forest Restorer!
#INSPIRATORS QUESTIONNAIRE
Name: Florent Kaiser
Company / Institution: Global Forest Generation
Title: CEO
Website: https://www.globalforestgeneration.org/
LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/florentkaiser/
Country of origin: France
Country you currently live in: Peru
Your definition of Regeneration: Regeneration is about bringing balance back to an entire ecosystem, an entire web of life - not just restoring or protecting a particular species. And through holistic healing, we also regenerate our connection to nature and place.
Main business challenge you face: Securing long-term partnerships and commitments towards restoration, which goes against short-term business models and our general approach to problems.
Main driver that keeps you going: The people and local communities who live on the landscapes that we are restoring, and who fight every day to preserve their homes.
The trait you are most proud of in yourself: Relentless passion.
The trait you most value in others: Seeing passion through to completion.
Passions & little things that bring you joy:
• Witnessing the revival of ecosystems and the reforestation of the Andes through community-driven efforts.
• The profound connection between indigenous wisdom and modern conservation - where ancient practices meet today’s tools.
• Collaborating with local communities, knowing that together we are creating lasting change for future generations.
• The sound of water flowing from the high Andes, a reminder of how interconnected all life is, from glaciers to rainforests.
• Sharing stories of hope and resilience, seeing them ignite a global movement for holistic ecosystem restoration.
• Moments of reflection, standing in awe of the landscapes we are helping to protect and restore.
• Celebrating the quiet, everyday victories with my team - each tree planted, each partnership formed, each new step towards a 100-year vision.
Books that had a great impact on you / Must-Reads for any regenerative professional:
I’m currently reading Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. While there are many books about restoration and saving our planet, this book beautifully evokes the power of ancestral knowledge and modern ways of knowing.
Places you travelled to that left a mark on you: The Andes!
Reasons to feel optimistic about our future in 2030: Regenerating our planet doesn’t depend on a radical new discovery as much as rediscovering a way of life that served humans for millennia.
Meaning: we already have a blueprint for how to live in harmony with nature! We’ve done it for most of our human existence - and so a regenerative future is completely possible.
Reasons to feel pessimistic about our future in 2030: Global leadership still does not give enough recognition to local communities and knowledge that may be the key to a future habitable earth.
The quote that inspires you:
“We can no longer save the world by playing by the rules because the rules have to be changed.” (Greta Thunberg)
Your quote that will inspire us:
