The Amazon Fund
The BNDES is the manager of the Amazon Fund, an innovative Brazilian initiative to raise funds which are allocated to support the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and the degradation of forests.
The Norwegian government is the main donor of resources to the Amazon Fund, which has also received donations from the German government and from Brazil’s State-owned oil company Petrobras.
The BNDES is responsible for investing and raising funds, as well as monitoring, communicating and rendering accounts of all efforts carried out within its scope. Projects that address the following issues related to fostering sustainable development as well as preventing, monitoring and combating deforestation of the Amazon rainforest, can be supported with non-reimbursable resources from donations:
- Management of public forests and protected areas;
- Environmental control, monitoring and inspection;
- Sustainable forest management;
- Economic activities developed from the sustainable use of the rainforest;
- Ecological and economic zoning, territorial planning and land-title regularization;
- Conservation and the sustainable use of biodiversity; and
- Recovery of deforested areas.
The BNDES is responsible for fostering projects and analyzing those that are proposed. Approved projects are contracted and their physical-financial execution is monitored by the Bank. The BNDES is also responsible for carrying out the activities of the executive office of the Amazon Fund’s Guidance Committee’s (COFA), an inclusive governance structure whose duty it is to establish the guidelines and criteria for allocating resources, in keeping with the public policies in effect.
Structured as a tripartite committee and currently presided over by the Environmental Ministry (MMA), the COFA comprises representatives from the Federal Government, the governments of the nine states within the Brazilian Legal Amazon involved in combating deforestation, civil society (non-governmental organizations, social movements, native-Brazilian tribes and the business sector) and the scientific community.
Considered an important instrument for financing the reduction of emissions caused by deforestation and degradation, its exemplary nature emphasizes the aspects related to transparency and communication of its main information even more, as well as the permanent dialogue with its varied public. To ensure such aspects, the Amazon Fund has a specific website, periodical bulletins with news and project portfolios, besides the annual activity report that contains the annual balance, the rendering of accounts and opinions from external and independent auditors. For further information on the Amazon Fund and details on approved projects, visit the website at www.amazonfund.gov.br
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Project Portfolio
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In its conception, approved projects have distinct, but coherent approaches with efforts that contribute, directly or indirectly, to reducing CO2 emissions, resulting from degradation and deforestation, always aligned with public policies for environmental management.
The Amazon Fund in numbers (2009-2011):
- 23 projects approved totaling R$ 260.7 million in support for sustainable production activities, institutional development of environmental agencies, environmental and land-title regularization as well as science, technology and innovation (ST&I).
|
Year |
Projects approved |
Amount of support (R$ million) |
|---|---|---|
|
2009 |
5 |
70,3 |
|
2010 |
8 |
119,1 |
|
2011 |
10 |
71,3 |
|
Total |
23 |
260,7 |
- R$ 15.8 million earmarked for projects in S,T&I.
- 131 municipalities in the Amazon Biome benefited (25% of all municipalities).
- Reforested and recovered area: 4,031 km², equivalent to 62% of the deforested area in the Amazon in 2010).
- Consolidation of 82 federal and state Conservation Units (UCs), totaling 420,000 km² (33% of the federal and state UCs in the Legal Amazon).
- Creation of new UCs, totaling 135,000 km² (11% increase in current area of federal and state UCs in the Legal Amazon).
- Physical and operational structuring of 60 environmental agencies.
- Capacity-building of 13,361 small farmers and inhabitants of traditional communities, including indigenous people, holding 294 capacity-building and awareness workshops related to agro-forestry systems, forest and pasture management, seed collection and enhancement, designing environmental projects, among others.
- 8,470 farmers that received technical assistance.
- 166,000 km² of rural properties ready to adhere to the Rural Environmental Registration (almost four times the size of the state of Rio de Janeiro).
- 12,219 families benefited from payments for environmental services (Forest Assistance program).
- 7,000 indigenous people from the kayapó tribe benefited from socio-environmental projects and 106,000 km² of indigenous land is monitored (10% of all indigenous land in the Legal Amazon).