Plans for management and environment protection created for indigenous areas
The Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) announced Thursday (Oct 2) the approval of a financial aid of approximately $6.33 million, with resources from the Amazon Fund, aimed at a project from the Nature Conservancy (TNC) in Brazil, in the states of Pará and Amapá.
The goal of the project is to implement plans for land and environmental management of six indigenous areas in two states where the Amazon Rainforest can be found. “Each of these areas will develop land management plans. These plans include measures of land protection, management, and the sustainable use of resources, as well as the consolidation of indigenous potentialities,” Hélcio Souza told Agência Brasil. Souza is the coordinator of TNC's Indigenous Land Conservation Strategy.
The project will foster these plans with the aid of organizations and aboriginal leaders, Souza added. According to BNDES press office, the funds will also contribute to curb the region's deforestation rate. Nearly 8.8 thousand aboriginals will be reached by the initiative.
Two years ago, the Brazilian government selected 32 indigenous areas spread throughout the country to become a touchstone for the National Policy for Land and Environmental Management of Indigenous Lands. Now, TNC Brazil starts offering assistance to the first areas to be effectively benefited. Souza says the strategy will help make the six areas manageable, and that the experience will be reproduced across the globe.
The regions in question are areas under protection, demarcated after being recognized as traditionally occupied by one or more peoples. According to BNDES, these areas have proved efficient as a barrier against the increasing deforestation facing the Amazon Rainforest. The financing process for TNC Brazil is currently in its contract phase. Souza believes the first grant will be made sometime between December and January.
Souza further announced that the TNC Brazil project was presented late in 2012 and “underwent a long process of discussion and maturation with the Amazon Fund.”
The Fund encompasses 60 approved projects, adding up to $364.74 million. It was created by the Brazilian government in 2008, with the purpose of offering support to initiatives aimed at preventing, managing and fighting deforestation.
Translated by Fabrício Ferreira
Fonte: Plans for management and environment protection created for indigenous areas
