21 October 2015: The Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council has approved a “first-of-its-kind” multi-million dollar project to help protect over 80% of the Amazon and combat climate change. GEF says it will commit US$113 million for the Amazon Sustainable Landscapes Program, a regional programme covering Brazil, Colombia and Peru, which is expected to leverage US$682 million in additional financing over five years.

The programme, approved at the 49th meeting of the GEF Council, aims to maintain 73,000,000 hectares of forest land, promote sustainable land management (SLM) in 52,700 hectares, and support actions that will help reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 300 million tons by 2030.

The programme will take an integrated approach to protecting the Amazon ecosystem, specifically by protecting globally significant biodiversity and mitigating climate change through the implementation of policies that foster sustainable land and protected areas management and restore vegetation cover.

Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson, emphasized that the Amazon is the single largest repository of biodiversity on the planet, and that together, Brazil, Peru and Colombia are responsible for about 83% of the Amazon basin within their territories. According to GEF, the Amazon has over 16,000 known tree species and 2,500 species of fish. In addition, approximately 33 million people live in the Amazon watershed, and their livelihoods depend on the rivers and tributaries, including fisheries.

During the Council meeting held on 20-22 October 2015, in Washington DC, US, representatives from Brazil and Colombia celebrated the “unprecedented progress” already made by the programme in terms of information sharing between countries. Over the last ten years, Brazil noted, the country has reduced deforestation in the Amazon by 82%, recognized 13% of land as indigenous, and established 27% of land as protected areas. Colombia said it has been working on connectivity strategies between conservation areas and supporting public, private and community stakeholders to implement strategies that promote ecosystem service maintenance, traditional knowledge, low-carbon rural development and peace building. Peru noted that it has a national Strategy for Forest and Climate Change that aims to reduce deforestation and emissions.

The programme is being implemented by the World Bank, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP). [World Bank Press Release] [GEF Press Release] [IISD RS Story on 49th GEF Council Meeting] [IISD RS Coverage of 49th GEF Council Meeting]