Project selected within the scope of the Amazon Fund’s Public Call "Restoring Amazonia"

CONTEXTUALIZATION

The Amazon is critical for providing essential ecosystem services to the rest of the national territory and the planet. Restoring priority areas within the biome is urgent and can generate positive impacts on biodiversity, local populations, climate change mitigation, natural regeneration, and environmental regularization. Ecological restoration is part of Nature-Based Solutions, representing a highly scalable and cost-competitive carbon capture technology. It is essential to prevent disruptions caused by reaching the tipping point, which could drastically affect Brazil.

As a carbon capture technology, ecological restoration positively impacts Brazil’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), reducing net greenhouse gas emissions and contributing to the country's emissions reduction targets and its commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. In addition to the NDC, the recently revised PLANAVEG (National Plan for Native Vegetation Recovery) maintained its goal of recovering 12 million hectares of native vegetation, with the Restaura Amazônia public calls representing an important contribution to this target.

The goal of Restaura Amazônia is to transform the landscape by supporting dozens of restoration projects, not only from an environmental perspective (biodiversity, microclimate, ecosystem services, water, etc.) but also from social and territorial perspectives, generating income, jobs, and professional training in green jobs related to forest restoration. The initiative strengthens the value chain, promotes sustainable agricultural production (SAF), and minimizes income leakage from the Amazon region.

Proposals should consider the socioeconomic and cultural context of the region, balancing ecological benefits and ecosystem service maintenance with job creation, income generation, and water and food security. Additionally, proposals should align with public policies and instruments related to native vegetation recovery in the region.

THE PROJECT

Launched by BNDES in December 2023, the Restaura Amazônia Initiative aims to support ecological restoration projects selected through public calls conducted by Management Partners chosen via public calls, with proposals submitted by March 2024. The selection process identified FBDS as the highest-scoring institution among applicants for macro-region 2, corresponding to the states of Mato Grosso and Tocantins.

The selection of restoration projects will be carried out through Public Calls conducted by FBDS, in collaboration with BNDES, donors, and relevant public agencies. A Selection Committee, composed of members appointed by BNDES, donors, and FBDS - acting as the secretariat for the Public Call - and other invited public agencies, will oversee the proposal evaluations.

The criteria to be included in the calls include: (i) technical and organizational capacity of the proponent and partners; (ii) technical activities for ecological restoration; (iii) costs; (iv) ecological importance of restoration in the region; (v) value chains, income generation, and stakeholder mobilization; and (vi) synergy with other activities related to native vegetation recovery.

Proposals must fall into one or more of the following land categories: (i) Conservation Units (UCs); (ii) Private Natural Heritage Reserves (RPPN); (iii) Permanent Preservation Areas (APP) and Legal Reserves (RL) in agrarian reform settlements and private properties of up to four fiscal modules, duly registered in the Rural Environmental Registry (CAR); (iv) Indigenous Lands, Quilombola Territories, and other traditional communities; and (v) unallocated public lands.

FBDS is responsible for working with BNDES throughout the process of drafting and launching calls for proposals to select restoration projects in specific territorial areas within the macro-regions, contracting the selected ecological restoration projects, and monitoring the physical and financial progress of the projects.

FBDS developed land use mapping with 3-meter precision for much of the Amazon biome, identifying areas with significant deficits in Permanent Preservation Areas (APPs) and deforested areas in Conservation Units and Indigenous Lands. FBDS also conducted a study on priority areas for Amazon biome restoration, producing georeferenced studies for each state under the PlanaFlor Project. In partnership with the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM), FBDS has been implementing a structural project to support family farming in the state of Pará. Additionally, it executed socio-environmental projects for Belo Monte Transmissora de Energia (BMTE) and Xingu Rio Transmissora de Energia (XRTE), both part of the Chinese State Grid group, in the states of Pará and Tocantins.

INTERVENTION LOGIC

The project falls under the Sustainable Production component (1) of the Amazon Fund’s Logical Framework, contributing to direct effect 1.4 – Recovered and restored deforested and degraded areas used for economic and ecological conservation purposes.