Brazil announces new Amazon protected areas

Posted on May, 30 2008

Brazil's Environment Minister Carlos Minc announced today, May 29th, at the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Bonn, a commitment to create 4 new protected areas, 3 of them in the Brazilian Amazon.
Brazil's Environment Minister Carlos Minc announced today, May 29th, at the 9th Conference of the Parties (COP9) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), in Bonn, a commitment to create 4 new protected areas, 3 of them in the Brazilian Amazon.

Mr. Minc's met with the donors of the Amazon Region Protected Areas Programme (ARPA):
  • WWF
  • World Bank and
  • German Development Bank (KfW).
During the meeting he also showed his commitment to zero net deforestation by 2020.

WWF held an event yesterday in Bonn, where Environment ministers from 60 countries showed their commitment to achieve this same goal.

"I insisted on coming to Bonn to announce the good news and restate our commitment to ARPA. We are now launching its 2nd phase and raising the total goal for areas protected and supported by ARPA from 50 million to 60 million hectares”, said Mr. Minc during the meeting.

“I also managed to unblock some proceedings, and on June 5th [World Environment Day] we will sign the creation of new protected areas, 3 of them in the Amazon".

The programme’s 2nd phase will be implemented over a 4 year period (2009-2012), when 20 million hectares on new protected areas expected to be created.

Additional goals for the 2nd phase are the implementation and consolidation of protected areas created during its 1st phase and the implementation of complementary financing mechanisms.

"ARPA has been a major conservation success story and remains core to WWF's overall strategy and vision for the Amazon. We see it as a powerful tool for CBD implementation", said Mr. James Leape, WWF International's Director General.

WWF also announced a new commitment to ARPA and intend to donate US$ 30 million.

Of the total amount that will be donated by WWF, US$ 10 million will be allocated for direct costs of programme activities and US$ 15 million for long-term recurrent costs of the ARPA Trust Fund .

The remaining US$ 5 million will be used for products and services provided by WWF-Brazil, such as studies, reports and capacity building activities targeting the creation of new protected areas and the implementation of those already created by the programme.

For the 1st phase of ARPA, which ends in December 2008, WWF had already contributed US$ 17 million.

Out of this donation, US$ 9.7 million has been spent for the creation, implementation and consolidation of protected areas, US$ 5.56 million was allocated to the Protected Areas Trust Fund (FAP), and more than US$ 2 million was provided for services and products.

ARPA, the world´s largest tropical forest conservation programme, is coordinated by Brazil's Ministry of the Environment and implemented by ICMBio (Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation) in partnership with 7 state governments from the Amazon region.

It is funded by the World Bank, the German Development Bank (KfW) and WWF, and administered by the Fundo Brasileiro para Biodiversidade (FUNBIO - Brazilian Fund for Biodiversity).

The German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), a German government aid agency, and WWF-Brazil provide technical support to ARPA.

Further Information

João Gonçalves, WWF-Brazil, +55 61 8175 3410, email joao@wwf.org.br
Rio Negro Forest Reserve, Amazonas, Brazil.
Rio Negro Forest Reserve, Amazonas, Brazil.
© WWF / Michel Roggo