Feb 6, 2013

• R$ 65 million in financing from the Amazon Fund will make it possible to collect the largest amount of data on the biome’s forest coverage

The director of the Environmental Division of the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES), Guilherme Lacerda, and the Minister of the Environment, Izabella Teixeira, signed a contract in the amount of R$ 65 million for the Brazilian Forest Service on January 24.

The non-reimbursable resources come from the Amazon Fund, managed by the BNDES, and are earmarked for the implementation of the National Forest Inventory in the Amazon Biome, which will be completed in 48 months.


The inventory will make it possible to monitor and improve management of forest resources and, especially, upgrade access to information needed to define forest policies as well as use and conservation plans.

In addition to this, it will foster knowledge on biomass and carbon stocks, biodiversity, forest health and well-being, as well as the standard of living of the population that inhabits the forest.
 
The last forest inventory throughout Brazil was conducted in 1983. In view of a deficit in qualitative and quantitative information, the Ministry of the Environment (MMA) has requested an update of the document and considers such data fundamental to policy decisions aimed at fostering an economy based on the sustainable use of natural resources.

The inventory in the Amazon Biome will be based on a standardized methodology, which has been used in similar state inventories, enabling the set up of a single database, which will contribute to creating public policies to develop a forest-based economy.

Mechanisms to disseminate information are also included, which will improve transparency in implementing and broadening knowledge from the data collected. In addition to this, the initiative is an opportunity to generate jobs and income in activities directly linked to the environment.

The entire database to be built by the inventory, among other uses, may help create policies to combat deforestation, Conservation Units and even projects aimed at Reducing the Emissions due to Deforestation and Degradation (REDD). This, as a result of the project to be supported by the Amazon Fund, will fine-tune the accuracy of stock estimates in specific areas, including timber density.

The survey will cover approximately 40% of the Brazilian territory. In this area, data for 6,500 sample sections, comprising an area of 20m x 100m, will be collected and analyzed, with the partnership of federal institutions, states and municipalities.

The goal is to facilitate not only dialogue with municipal authorities, but also access to private properties, logistics and support for technical and scientific performance so as to improve inventory methodology, as well as the assessment and quality control program of the field work.

Amazon fund – The Amazon Fund has already approved 36 projects in the amount of R$ 440 million, aimed at sustainable production activities, institutional development of environmental agencies, environmental and land-title regularization, as well as science, technology and innovation.

The approved projects stretch across 302 municipalities, including 12,500 families that are paid for environmental services, and 7,000 Kayapó Indians to carry out environmental projects, in addition to 106,000 km² of monitored indigenous territory (10% of indigenous land in the Legal Amazon).

The Fund has also supported the consolidation of 82 federal and state Conservation Units, totaling 420,000 km², as well as the creation of new Conservation Units, covering 135,000 km², recovering 1,200 springs and implementing 29 Environmental Agencies.