Can we really put a price on nature? This nature‑finance expert says we must.

When you clear a forest to plant maize and make charcoal, you’ve already put a price on nature—the future cash flows from the maize and the wood. The problem is that price is far too low. In this episode of The Samuele Tini Show, I speak with Josep Oriol, Managing Partner at Okavango Capital Partners and a leading nature‑finance expert working across Sub‑Saharan Africa. A Catalan who fell in love with African wildlife as a child, Josep trained as a lawyer, moved into venture capital and banking, then finally to Southern Africa to build a different kind of private equity firm—one that backs nature‑positive businesses whose performance depends on how they treat forests, soil and water. Today, Okavango‑backed companies help protect around 8–9 million hectares of land (about twice the size of Switzerland) and create income streams for hundreds of thousands of rural people. We dive into: The mispricing of nature: every land‑use decision—from forest to maize field—is already a price signal, and why that’s dangerous if we ignore the true value of ecosystems. Forest carbon in practice: the story of BioCarbon Partners, REDD+ projects, and rural families living on ~$20/month in cash who now earn income by keeping forests standing. Carbon market backlash: Josep’s response to critics of carbon credits, and why, compared to agriculture, mining or logging, high‑integrity projects are often far more transparent and generous to local communities. Three big opportunity themes: smarter agriculture and agroforestry to boost yields and cut waste, tech for soil, post‑harvest, insurance and finance, monetising ecosystem services via tourism, carbon, biodiversity and water credits—and why fuelwood is still the elephant in the room. Why classic 5‑year 10x PE funds don’t fit Africa: and how Okavango uses longer horizons and flexible instruments (loans with equity options, convertibles, prefs) instead of only straight equity. We close with Josep’s advice for entrepreneurs in nature‑based sectors—live with existential threat, love cash flow and margins, and assume everything will take twice the time and three times the money—and his vision of Africa’s future looking more like South Korea or Malaysia than Europe, if we get the nature piece right. If you care about where climate capital should actually go, this is a sharp, grounded conversation from inside the deal flow.