The global economic and financial sectors have only begun to acknowledge the significant nature-based risks inherent in all industries, especially those dependent on the Amazon Region’s environmental health. The Amazon is a strategically important region to protect because of its biodiversity, climate change mitigation potential, and the vast economic value the region provides in ecosystems services and raw materials.
In the last few decades, several financial instruments have emerged to help finance the protection of the Amazon’s forests; some of them can be found in more mature capital markets, while others are still in an experimental phase. To determine which mechanisms will be the most effective in protecting and managing the Amazon’s environmental health, the IDB Group recently launched Amazonia Forever, “a holistic umbrella program that aims to scale up financing, share strategic knowledge for decision-makers, and enhance regional coordination to accelerate the sustainable, inclusive and resilient development of the Amazon region”(iadb.org).
Conservation Strategy Fund (CSF) will contribute to this initiative by identifying, analyzing, and prioritizing existing and potential innovative financial instruments and mechanisms for conservation in the countries of the Amazon region: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.
This CSF study will include an analysis of financial mechanisms, supported by natural capital, that promote the mobilization of resources for the restoration, conservation, and sustainable management of the Amazon biome.
Our Economists will differentiate each mechanism according to regional land or territory regulations, rights of use, and Payments for Ecosystem Services. They will also analyze national and international regulations, market standards, international best practices, and environmental and social integrity standards.
CSF will deliver an advisory roadmap adapted to each country within the Amazon biome, with key information to guide governments and decision-makers in their efforts to mobilize funds to finance the restoration, conservation, and sustainable management of Amazonian ecosystems for the benefit of local communities.
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This work is possible with the support of the Inter-American Development Bank.
Photo: Amazon Forest, Gustavo Frazao, Shutterstock