Sustainable Forests Bimonthly newsletter of the World Bank Rain Forest Unit ­ No. 2 ­ April, 2005 PAGE 1 | Interview ­ Vinod Thomas PAGE 2 | In Focus PAGES 3 and 4 | Report ­ ARPA: a historical Developments initiative for the Amazon Protecting life Development compatible In this issue, besides a summary of the principle with protection projects supported by the World Bank Rain Forest Unit (RFU), you will also get to know the Amazon Region Protected Areas Program Vinod Thomas, Vice-President of the World Bank and Director for (ARPA) and how it is transforming life and Brazil, speaks about the importance of the sustainable landscape in the area. development programs implemented in the Country Aimed at creating and managing protected areas, the ARPA incorporated what How important is the Brazil Rain Forests by the imbalance of ecosystems and the has been learned from the Program (PPG7) for the World Bank? limits of unplanned exploitation of the nat- various initiatives supported The Program is extremely relevant for the ural heritage. Nowadays, development de- by the RFU. work the World Bank conducts both in cisions take into consideration both private In the adjacent interview, Brazil and abroad. It is the largest and and social costs and benefits. A sustainable Vinod Thomas, Vice-President of most important international partnership Brazil could also become a source of com- the World Bank and Director for initiative in the environmental area any- petitiveness and wealth for the future. In your analysis, what contributions has the RFU made? The World Bank Rain Forest Unit has contributed to making the environment a 1 cross-cutting issue for other sectors, sur- passing the protectionist or conservation- ist vision. This is already reflected in the iruá V RFU's contributions to the drafting of im- do portant loans, such as the National Forest Nacional Program, Rural Pará and the Amazonas Regional Development Program. The RFU Parque do can act as a catalyst of good experiences for other regions of the Amazon Basin, Viruá National Park has like a channel for promoting all the insti- Nunes/Acervo the support of the ARPA tutional learning developed over the past aylorT few years. Is the environment also an economic Brazil, comments on the where in the world. It involves nine coun- issue? importance of the Brazil Rain tries and several cooperation and financ- There is a false opposition between eco- Forests Program (PPG7) and the ing agencies. This illustrates that it is pos- nomic development and conservation of work conducted by the RFU. sible to join forces and take action. The ex- natural resources. The balanced use of vast Also highlighted is the periences and results show the possibili- environmental resources may very well be Dialogue of Foundations, a ties of expanding the scale to promote de- the springboard for sustainable develop- Conference held in Brasília velopment in a sustainable manner and ment. Neglect of environmental issues can gathering State Minister of the fight poverty the world over. be particularly harmful for the poor. In Brazilian Government, civil How important is the topic of sustainabil- Brazil, most of the income of the people society organizations and ity as one of the pillars of the World Bank's we label "most needy" is derived from the national and international cooperation agenda in Brazil? use of the soil, forests and water. Since corporate foundations. A more sustainable country would be 1990, Brazil has managed to raise grain A joint set of goals for the able to reduce poverty and improve qual- production by 125%, with a 24% increase sustainable use of the ity of life for all Brazilians living in both in the amount of land planted. Neverthe- Amazon's natural resources rural and urban settings. It is possible to less, in some regions, land could be put was then discussed. achieve this goal through the rational use to better use. Through the use of aban- and preservation of the Country's natural doned areas, Brazil could sizably increase Enjoy reading! resources. Sustainability emerged from the its agricultural production, without pos- growing knowledge of the impacts caused ing additional threats to its forests. Sustainable Forests PAGE 1 | Interview ­ Vinod Thomas PAGE 2 | In Focus PAGES 3 and 4 | Report ­ ARPA: a historical Developments initiative for the Amazon In Focus Developments RFU partners develop projects Brazilian program wins award aimed at sustainability Brazil's First Programmatic Loan for Environmental Sustainabili- ty won in March the Green Award 2005, a prize granted annu- ally by the World Bank. The prize recognizes the quality of the Find out about some of these projects cooperation between the Brazilian Government and the World · Floodplain Natural Resources Management (ProVárzea): Bank in environmental issues and the innovation it represents. De- aims to establish a scientific, technical and political veloped by the Ministry of Environment in conjunction with the basis for the conservation and environmental and socially Bank, the loan drew heavily on the experience of the Brazil Rain sustainable management of floodplain natural resources, Forests Program (PPG7). "The award was an acknowledgement of work that we are very proud of", said the World Bank's Luiz with a particular emphasis on the fishery resources of the GabrielAzevedo, who headed up the technical preparation of the Amazon floodplains; the Project has prompted the recov- proposal. "The loan opened a new chapter in relations between ery of degraded areas in Amazon floodplain lakes, by the Bank and the Ministry of Environment, with key sectors of civ- reaching fishing agreements with local producers and get- il society and with other ministries", he concluded. Besides Brazil, ting the communities themselves to monitor illegal fish- this year's other winners were India, Bulgaria and Vietnam. ing, thus generating an example of legislation adopted by Conference discusses Ibama; executing institution: Ibama; contact: Mauro Ruffi- no; email: ruffino@provarzea.ibama.gov.br. · Integrated Project for the Protection of Indigenous Peoples and Lands in the Amazon (PPTAL): its purpose is role of foundations to improve quality of life for indigenous people and pro- mote the conservation of natural resources through the reg- Rational use of the Amazon's natural resources, social in- ularization and protection of indigenous lands; the Pro- clusion, youth and living with the semi-arid were the central ject has demarcated 59 indigenous areas, covering near- themes of the Dialogue of Foundations, an event held in Feb- ly 454,000 square kilometers (an area the size of Ger- ruary that brought together 197 representatives from founda- many, Switzerland and the Netherlands together); execut- tions, national and international NGOs and the Federal Gov- 2 ing institution: Funai; contact: Deuscreide Gonçalves ernment, in Brasília. Also participating were the Minister of Pereira; email: deuscreide@funai.gov.br. Environment, Marina Silva; the former Minister of Labor and · Institutional Strengthening of the Amazon Working current Secretary of the Economic and Social Development Group (GTA): Its primary objective is to strengthen the or- Council, Jaques Wagner; and the Secretary of Government Com- ganizational capacity of civil society in the Amazon to de- munication and Strategic Management, Luiz Gushiken. velop local projects and work with governments, the pri- The Dialogue of Foundations occurs annually in a different vate sector and international organizations; the Project continent, and is sponsored by the World Bank and the Euro- has mobilized, trained and organized a network of NGOs pean Foundation Center (EFC). The first one was held in Thai- comprised of more than 500 affiliated in- land, in Asia. The next one will stitutions, facilitating dialogue and enabling take place in Africa. organized civil society to contribute to In Brazil, the meeting was or- public policies; executing institution: GTA; ganized in partnership with the Ban- contact: Rubens Palácios; emails: rubens@ co do Brasil Foundation, the Group gta.org.br and gtanacional@gta.org.br. of Institutions, Foundations and En- · Natural Resources Policy Project terprises (Gife), the Brazilian Semi- (NRPP): this subprogram contributes to the Arid Coordination Group (ASA), definition and implementation of an inte- theAmazonWorking Group (GTA) grated environmental management model and theAvina Foundation.Accord- for the Amazon, aimed at the sustainable ing to Zezé Weiss, the organizer of use of natural resources; the Project en- the event for the World Bank, dia- hances the effectiveness of public man- logue should be the starting point agement, creating mechanisms for impacts for a more concrete set of goals. monitoring and coordinating them with "Actually, the problems raised are State Public Prosecution Departments for incorporated into the agenda of so- control and inspection; executing institu- cial non-governmental organiza- tion: Department of Sustainable Develop- tions, corporate funds and the Gov- ment Policies, Ministry of Environment; ernment as common goals, and an contact: Francisco J. B. Cavalcanti; email: interinstitutional effort is made at francisco. cavalcanti@mma.gov.br. archives cooperation", she explained. Con- ProVárzea: working RFU cerning the Amazon, the dialogue Email for contacting the RFU: with river communities Bank will be extended in order to define rainforestunitbrazil@worldbank.org. orld Wan agenda of concrete actions. Sustainable Forests PAGE 1 | Interview ­ Vinod Thomas PAGE 2 | In Focus PAGES 3 and 4 | Report ­ ARPA: a historical Developments initiative for the Amazon Viruá National Park: one of the areas supported by the ARPA ARPA: a historical initiative for the Amazon 3 Taylor Nunes/Viruá National Park Archives While creating and In November of 2004, the two presidential the "Verde para Sempre" Extractive Reserve has decrees that created the "Riozinho doAnfrísio" a population of some 2,500 families. Residents incorporating and the "Verde Para Sempre" Extractive Re- had long been calling for the creation of the Re- serves, the former occupying 736,000 hectares serve, in order to guarantee protection of the protected areas in and the latter 1.28 million hectares, were en- area's natural resources and biodiversity given thusiastically received by the population. The the pressure of economic interests. the Amazon, the creation of these two Reserves in the state of "It is a region very rich in natural resources Pará, in the BrazilianAmazon, benefited near- that are being plundered", said Joaquim Belo, ARPA incorporated ly 2,600 families who now have their natural president of the National RubberTappers Coun- resources and land use rights protected. cil. "There's a lot of illegal logging going on in These Reserves are two examples of the the area. The pressure is very high. So are the lessons learned concrete results achieved by the Amazon Re- threats", he noted, adding that he considers the gion Protected Areas Program (ARPA), creation of the Reserve to be a very important step. from the various launched during the World Summit on Sus- "The fact that the Government has recog- tainable Development (Rio + 10), held in nized the existence of this population and initiatives supported SouthAfrica in 2002. "The first positive aspect the importance of the region represents from of creating an Extractive Reserve is to ensure a biological and forestal view point is a vic- by the RFU and the use of that area for its residents", explained tory in itself", said Atanagildo de Deus Matos, Adriana Moreira, manager of the ARPA Pro- executive secretary of the National Rubber already has good gram at the World Bank. Tapper Council, referring to the "Riozinho The "Riozinho do Anfrísio" Extractive Re- do Anfrísio" Extractive Reserve. "From here reasons to celebrate serve is located in the municipality of Altami- on, it's no longer a `nobody's land'. Its resi- ra, in the region known as "Terra do Meio" dents are no longer leaseholders. They own (Middle Land), between the Altamira Na- the place", he stressed. tional Forest and the "Xipaya" and "Ca- Nowhere on the Reserve, explained Atana- choeira Seca do Iriri" Indigenous Lands.The gildo Matos, is there any regular transport or nearly 50 families in the region make a liv- means of communication. "There are just the ing from the production of chestnut, rubber, residents and the forest", he summed up. Ac- copaiba and crabtree oil. cording to him, the next step is to implement Located in the municipality of Porto de Moz, the Reserve, by providing basic infrastructure. Sustainable Forests PAGE 1 | Interview ­ Vinod Thomas PAGE 2 | In Focus PAGES 3 and 4 | Report ­ ARPA: a historical Developments initiative for the Amazon Long-term project sity preservation. "The ARPA represents, first The technical studies conducted prior to the and foremost, the possibility of the effective creation of the two conservation units were installation of the Park", said Antônio Lisboa. financed by the Federal Government, which According to him, over the past few months, should also guarantee their incorporation the Program has allowed the purchase of com- into the ARPA Program. "We are building a puter hardware, electronic equipment, field long-term grassroots project for this.TheARPA gear, and also provided support for various in- Program embraces everything from the oper- spection missions along the region's rivers. ational training of the Brazilian Environment Throughout this year, the Park will acquire and Renewable Natural Resources Institute vehicles, nautical equipment, solar energy (Ibama) to the mobilization of local commu- and radiocommunication systems essential nities to participate in the councils of the pro- for inspection logistics, as well as step up a tected areas", explained Adriana Moreira. series of activities targeting research and en- Innovative, the ARPA is the result of vari- vironmental education. ous experiences from many countries. "We By February of this year, nearly 9 million have been trying to incorporate the most hectares of new fully protected conservation important experiences of the Brazil Rain units and another 5 million hectares of sus- Forests Program (PPG7), primarily the In- tainable usage conservation units had been digenous Lands, Extractive Reserves and Eco- created within the scope of the ARPA. "We have already met the goal for creating full pro- tection conservation units and two thirds of the goal for sustainable usage units set for the first phase of the Program", explained Ronal- do Weigand Jr., supervisor of the ARPA at the Ministry of Environment. "For the first year, the main challenge of the ARPA was its implementation from a management point Archives Park of view. Now, we are investing in the tech- 4 nical angle and in the innovative aspects of National the Program", he added. iruá One of the main distinction of the ARPA is Wild ducks in the Viruá Nunes/V the element of community participation, as National Park aylorT determined in the National System of Conser- vation Units (SNUC). "It is through these sub- logical Corridors projects", said Moreira. projects and the empowerment of the coun- Nine million Proposed to last for 10 years, the ARPA is cils that we plan to provide benefits to the lo- a Federal Government Program in partner- cal population while also calling on local peo- hectares of new ship with state and municipal governments ple to manage the units", explained Luiz Car- from the Amazon, the Global Environment los Pinagé, of Funbio. The idea is for the unit fully protected Fund (GEF), the World Bank, the German De- to become embedded in the socioeconomic velopment Bank (KfW), the German Agency and cultural dynamic of the region. conservation units for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), the WWF- The "Serra da Cutia" National Park, in Brasil, the Brazilian Biodiversity Fund (Funbio) Rondônia, and the "Rio Trombetas" Biologi- and five million and civil society organizations. The overall cal Reserve, in Pará, were the only two con- coordination of the Program is conducted by servation units selected to start up this process. hectares of the Ministry of Environment. The first mobilization events have already sustainable use "TheARPA is the most important support pro- been held to present the Program and dis- gram for conservation units Brazil has ever seen", cuss the matter of local councils and the cri- conservation recognizedAntônio Lisboa, head of theViruá Na- teria for financing the subprojects. tional Park, in the municipality of Caracaraí, in According to RonaldoWeigand Jr., the next units have been Roraima. "The conservation units of the Ama- challenge is to extend this process to the other zon will finally be able to implement their man- conservation units. "We want the subprojects created within agement plans, stepping up their monitoring to support the participative work related to the and control activities and their plans to integrate councils, the management plan and the com- the scope with the surrounding communities", he noted. mitment agreements, if required", he said. Created in 1998, the Viruá National Park For more information on the ARPA, call of the ARPA covers an area of 227,000 hectares and is +55 (61) 4009-9181 or send an email to: considered extremely important for biodiver- arpa@mma.gov.br. Sustainable Forests is produced by the Rain Forest Unit (RFU) of the World Bank. RFU Coordinator: Gregor Wolf. RFU Projects Officer: Ofelia Silva. Address: SCN, Quadra 02, Lote A, ED. Corporate Financial Center, CEP 70712-900, Brasília-DF, Tel: +55 (61) 329-1000, email: rainforestunitbrazil@worldbank.org. Editing and reporting: Cross Content Comunicação Integrada, contatos@crosscontent.com.br.