Fund manager for Living Forest program established

The Brazilian Biodiversity Fund (Funbio) shall manage the Living Forest program, Environment Minister Joaquim Leite and the head of the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) Gustavo Montezano informed on Tuesday (April 19).

Living Forest is aimed at restoring Brazilian biomes and recovering watersheds. It was launched in November last year, and it is considered the largest environmental match-funding program - a financing model that combines non-reimbursable resources from the BNDES with those from other supporting institutions in the country.

Funbio is a non-profit organization that has been working for more than 25 years on biodiversity conservation projects in Brazil. The organization shall be responsible for the selection process of the projects to be supported. Funbio will also receive funds from BNDES and other supporting institutions.

“The idea is to create an environment in which we can debate and undertake together because innovation is done collectively and it is focused on purpose and impact,” Montezano said.

The program aims to invest BRL 500 million ($ 107 million dollars) over seven years, including up to 50 percent of BNDES resources, and reach between 16 and 33 thousand hectares of restored area, removing approximately 9 million tons of carbon from the atmosphere.

“The resources to be invested in the program can generate [carbon] credits to keep the machine running. Brazil´s policy is to undertake and innovate, to generate jobs in a green economy and generate green businesses,” said Environment Minister Joaquim Leite.

The program has 11 partners so far, including mining company Vale, the Heineken Group, and Petrobras.

“We are very concerned about the environmental, sustainable, and social agenda, and we understand that all companies have a great responsibility. However, since Petrobras is currently the largest company in Brazil and a reference for the Brazilian Citizen, it has undoubtedly a redoubled responsibility,” the company's head José Mauro Ferreira Coelho said.