Amazon Fund

Contents
1 Summary
2 Graphs and statistics
3 Basic description
4 Fund Governance
5 Relationship with Official Development Assistance

Summary

The Amazon Fund was created to raise donations so that investments can be made in efforts to prevent, monitor and combat deforestation, as well as to promote the conservation and sustainable use of forests in the Amazon Biome. Although the Amazon Fund was created by the government and is managed by a public bank, it is a private fund.

Graphs and statistics

Details on our Data

Latest confirmation received from Fund Managers: 21-02-2013.
Other contributions, not known or tracked by CFU, are made into the Gaia Fund. The Amazon Fund can draw from the Gaia Amazon Fund, hence any discrepancy between the amount deposited and that approved for projects.

Basic description

Name of Fund	Amazon Fund (Fundo Amazônia)
Official Fund Website	www.amazonfund.gov.br/FundoAmazonia/fam/site_en
Date Created	Date fund proposed: 1st August 2008 Date fund made operational: 1st March 2009
Proposed Life of Fund	Undetermined.
Administrating Organisation	The fund is managed by the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES).
Objectives	The Amazon Fund aims to raising donations for non-reimbursable investments in efforts to prevent, monitor and combat deforestation, as well as to promote the preservation and sustainable use of forests in the Amazon Biome.
Activities Supported	Activities supported include: Management of public forests and protected areas; Environmental control, monitoring and inspection; Sustainable forest management; Economic activities created with sustainable use of forests; Ecological and economic zoning, territorial arrangement and agricultural regulation; Preservation and sustainable use of biodiversity; and Recovery of deforested areas.
Conditions and Eligibility Requirements	Eligible projects should directly or indirectly contribute to reducing deforestation in the Amazon. Besides this, up to 20% of the Fund’s disbursements may support the development of systems for monitoring and controlling deforestation in other Brazilian biomes and in biomes of other tropical countries. The efforts of the Amazon Fund should abide by the guidelines of the Sustainable Amazon Plan (PAS) and by the Action Plan for Prevention and Control of the Legal Amazon Deforestation (PPCDAM). Aiming to boost operating efficiency, to better distribute analytical work and BNDES’ monitoring of the projects, as well as project results, for operating purposes the areas for investment of Amazon Fund will be grouped under the following modalities: Protected Areas (Environmental Management and Services); Sustainable Production Activities; Science and Technology Development Applied to Sustainable Use of Biodiversity; and Institutional Development and Improvement of Control Mechanisms.
Accessing the Fund	Requests for financial support can be sent to the BNDES through a Financial Support Request Form which specifies the basic characteristics of the Applicant (e.g. company) and of the project to be supported by the Amazon Fund. BNDES recommends Applicants not to use intermediaries when presenting their projects.

Fund Governance

Decision Making Structure	The Amazon Fund is managed by the BNDES which will also raises funds, facilitates contracts, supports and monitors projects and efforts. The Amazon Fund’s decision making structure is based on: • The Amazon Fund Guidance Committee (COFA) • The Amazon Fund Technical Committee (AFTC) The Amazon Fund Guidance Committee (COFA): a three-block committee comprising the federal government, state governments and civil society (including indigenous peoples, traditional communities, NGOs, industry and scientists). Each block holds one vote on committee decisions and each member holds one vote inside his block. COFA is in charge of setting the Amazon Fund guidelines and of following up on the results attained. In addition, it is COFA’s responsibility to ensure the adequacy of Amazon Fund projects under the guidelines it has set, and for the goals, commitments and policies of the Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Amazon (PPCDAM) and of the directives of the Sustainable Amazon Plan (PAS). The Amazon Fund Technical Committee (AFTC): six authoritative technical and scientific experts appointed by the Ministry of Environment for a three year term, extendable once for an equal period. The AFTC issues the certificates of carbon emission reductions and it calculates the amount of carbon per hectare as well as the amount of deforestation avoided. An independent auditor also assesses whether the application of the funds adhere to the guidelines set by the COFA.
Non-Government Stakeholder Participation	Consultations with non-government stakeholders are integral part of the Amazon Fund’s decision making process as civil society organisations represent one of the three blocks of the COFA.
Information Disclosure	Contributions and Disbursements both can be found on the Amazon Fund website.
Safeguard policies	The Amazon Fund’s Social and Environmental Safeguards follow the REDD+ Social and Environmental Safeguards consolidated in 2010 by the Institute of Forest and Agricultural Management and Certification (Imaflora). These are the result of a broad discussion on the social and environmental risks of REDD+ in Brazil, based on a bottom-up approach that included representatives of indigenous peoples and local communities, smallholders, research institutions, the private sector, and environmental organisations. They are intended to be updated to keep them aligned with new decisions of the Guidance Committee of the Amazon Fund (COFA), which established the “Guidelines and Criteria for the Application of Resources” directed to the Amazon Fund’s main beneficiaries; namely traditional communities, settlements and family farmers. The safeguards decision process led to the agreement of eight principles: legal compliance; acknowledgement and guarantee of rights; distribution of benefits; economic sustainability, improving standards of living and reducing poverty; environmental conservation and remediation; participation; monitoring and transparency; and governance. These safeguards are implemented by analysing project proposals for potential risks and impacts and by identifying efforts their elimination or mitigation. The result of this analysis may be changes in some aspects of the initial project, the inclusion of conditions to be met throughout stages of approval and contracting, disbursement of resources for implementation.
Issues Raised	Issues raised by Brazilian Civil Society Organisations (in Portuguese only): includes: a lack of transparency on eligibility criteria and the project approval cycle; the difficult access to the fund by local and grassroots organisations; and the coherence between the fund objectives and national development strategies.

Relationship with Official Development Assistance

Inclusion as Official Development Assistance	Yes.
Financial Instrument/ Delivery Mechanism Used (e.g. grant, loan)	Grants.
Nature of Recipient Country Involvement	The Amazon Fund is owned and managed by Brazilian bodies, with restricted intervention from the donor countries. Norway has established targets for disbursing further resources for the following years.

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