Commercial timber companies invest up to $10,000/hectare for reforestation projects in Ecuador and neighboring countries. A Micro-Forest can be implemented at a cost of $800/hectare, which renders this one of the most cost-effective methods of reforestation in the tropics. The reason for such a significant cost differential is because commerical timber companies have to pay for maintenance costs for 20-30 years. The Micro-Forest program eliminates this cost by leveraging the economic incentive provided by continuous agro-forest revenue. The opportunity cost of ignoring the plants once they are in the ground is greater than the cost of maintaining the Micro-Forest, because the beneficiary of the revenue is the farmer and his family themselves, rather than a third-party investor. Third Millennium Allliance front-loads the subsidy to ensure the trees are planted, but the continuous revenue generated by agro-forestry production is sufficient to ensure that the Micro-Forest is maintained by the farmer and his family for the long haul.