Jun 28, 2012

Document signed during Rio+20 is the first of a Cooperation Agreement which provides for investments of R$ 100 million in five years

During the Rio +20 event held in Rio de Janeiro in June, the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) and the Banco do Brasil Foundation (FBB) signed a R$ 25 million contract for efforts aimed at conservation and sustainable use of the Amazon Biome. Of the resources, some R$ 15 million is from the BNDES, specifically from the Amazon Fund, and the remaining R$ 10 million is from the FBB.

The initiative is the result of an Agreement for Financial and Technical Cooperation signed between the two institutions and provides for investments of R$ 100 million over the next five years, of which R$ 60 million is to come from the BNDES, and R$ 40 million, from the FBB.

The resources will provide support to projects that foster the development of production and social technology sectors for low-income communities, especially traditional communities, settlements and family farmers.

The efforts to receive support will be chosen through territorial diagnosis and by verifying the feasibility and appropriateness of its application and development. To this end, some initiatives have already been identified as ready to receive support under the agreement. This has no affect on any new opportunities that may emerge:

(1) Structuring of solidarity undertakings in production activities from the region itself, such as Acai berries, Cupuaçu berries, Brazil nuts, Bananas, Cocoa, beekeeping, fish farming, Babassu palms, Guarana berries, oils and essences, Cassava, Passion Fruit, Artisan Fishing, Rubber, Crafts, Agro-ecology.

(2) Reapplication of Social Technologies in several areas, such as food security, access to clean water, power generation in a sustainable manner, recovery of degraded areas, rational management and land use in an agro-forestry system.

(3) Efforts to provide support for land-title regularization and licensing.

(4) Efforts towards sustainable forest management, reforestation, forest certification and the recovery of deforested areas.

Due to the complex logistics and vast territory, the FBB will set up an office in the region to help local players articulate and implement efforts. This measure will facilitate prospecting, development, analysis and monitoring of projects.

Previous agreements - This is the third agreement of Technical and Financial Cooperation between the BNDES and the FBB. In 2010, the institutions – together with Petrobras and the Ministry of Labor and Employment – launched the program Cataforte Solidary Logistics, aimed at the training and socio-production inclusion of waste pickers of recyclable materials.

Under this program, also at Rio +20, the program delivered trucks to nine cooperatives of the Federation of Cooperatives of Waste Pickers of Recyclable Materials in Rio de Janeiro (Febracom).

There was also the first agreement in 2009 for social investment, through which each institution has disbursed R$ 80 million, related to 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Unlike this latest agreement, which includes non-reimbursable resources from the Amazon Fund, the BNDES’ contributions in previous partnerships with the FBB were with resources from the BNDES’ Social Fund, also non-reimbursable.