Canopy Development, led by Tom Horton and supported by Sam Spencer, have joined the Avalon Springs creation team as venture partners, bringing their experience, network, and support in attracting the partners and final funding for the construction phase. Canopy has been instrumental in the permaculture-inspired design, strategic planning, and practical development of a number of high-profile projects all over the world, all of them eco-resorts and sustainable developments, and most on an even larger scale than Avalon Springs.
Tom Horton on Canopy Development's purpose:
We facilitate preservation of distinct and important natural environments by creating low-impact destination resorts that employ forward-thinking conservation strategies and drive community development. These places of natural and architectural beauty cultivate learning and exploration, foster a healthy lifestyle and leave a lasting legacy for all of us. At the core of our philosophy is the idea that a model of conservation development is one of the best ways to ensure the preservation of our planets most spectacular and fragile natural ecosystems. Creating a way for people to experience and share in the inherent beauty of a place through development not only creates the ability to preserve significant terrestrial and marine environments but also creates stakeholders out of them.
The Canopy Development team has been instrumental in Avalon Springs' progress since Spring 2011, resulting in acceleration of onsite improvements and the creation of an upgraded business plan and offering released in October 2011.
