Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA) Program Descriptions
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| A green forest canopy in Panama. |
Bangladesh
The Arannyak Foundation (the Bangladesh Tropical Forest Conservation Foundation) was officially registered in July 2003. The Foundation will receive approximately $8.5 million over 18 years. In addition, the agreement will save the Government of Bangladesh over $10 million.
Bangladesh’s tropical forests cover almost 1.5 million hectares, roughly half of which are in the southwestern Sunderbans region. This area is home to the world’s sole genetically viable population of Bengal tigers, a total of only 400. As the largest mangrove forests in the world, the Sunderbans are also designated wetlands of internationally recognized importance by the Ramsar Convention.
Botswana
In October 2006, the Governments of the United States of America and the Republic of Botswana signed the first TFCA agreement concluded in Africa. The agreement will reduce Botswana’s debt payments to the United States by over $8.3 million. These funds will be used to support grants that will conserve and restore important tropical forests throughout the country, including such world famous areas as the Okavango Delta and Chobe National Park region. The agreement was made possible through a contribution of nearly $7 million by the U.S. Government.
The forests covered by the agreements with Botswana include closed canopy tree cover, riverine forests and dry acacia forests. They are home to the fishing owl, leopard, elephant, hippopotamus and many other wildlife species. People living in and around these forests depend upon them for their livelihood and survival, and these agreements will help ensure the sustainability of the forests for future generations.
Belize
In August 2001, the governments of the U.S. and Belize, in conjunction with The Nature Conservancy, announced a TFCA debt swap. The $5.5 million in appropriated funds were combined with $1.3 million in private funds raised by The Nature Conservancy to reduce Belize’s official debt to the U.S. by half. Under the agreement, the Government of Belize issued new obligations that will generate approximately $9 million in local currency payments to help a consortium of four local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) administer conservation activities in protected areas.
Partner websites:
Belize Audubon: www.belizeaudubon.org
Programme for Belize: www.pfbelize.org/welcome.html
Toledo Institute for Development and the Environment: www.tidebelize.org
PACT Foundation: www.pactbelize.org
Colombia
In April 2004, the governments of the U.S. and Colombia, in conjunction with The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International and the World Wildlife Fund, announced a TFCA debt swap. To carry out this swap, the U.S. Government provided $7 million, the three aforementioned NGOs collectively contributed $1.4 million. The agreement should generate approximately $10 million over 12 years for tropical forest conservation.
The proceeds derived from the proposed debt-for-nature swap for Colombia will contribute to the long-term financial sustainability of Colombia’s system of protected areas by using such proceeds in the protected areas and their buffer zones, which will increase connectivity and ecological integrity of tropical forests in Colombia. This will be achieved by providing direct funding for conservation activities and an endowment fund to nine protected areas, both public and private, their buffer zones, and corridors, all of which are located in three biogeographic regions of Colombia: the Tropical Andes, the Caribbean, and the Llanos and cover 11.4 million acres of critical forest lands that overlap with part or all of 12 ecoregions in Colombia.
FPPA Website: www.accionambiental.org
El Salvador
The TFCA debt reduction agreement was signed in July 2001 as an additional debt relief mechanism that added an account to the existing El Salvador Enterprise for the Americas Initiative Fund (FIAES). The TFCA account should generate over $14 million dollars over 26 years. To date, the account has been used exclusively for providing grants for protected area management, primarily through community-based organizations. Activities range from land surveys and baseline inventories to ranger training and the development of management plans.
FIAES Website: www.fiaes.com.sv
Guatemala
In September of 2006, the Governments of the United States of America and the Republic of Guatemala, together with The Nature Conservancy and Conservation International, concluded the largest agreement the U.S. Government has entered to date with any country in the eight-year history of the TFCA. The deal will reduce Guatemala’s official debt to the United States and generate $24 million to conserve tropical forests in Guatemala. The Government of Guatemala has committed these funds over the next 15 years to support grants to non-governmental organizations and other groups to protect and restore the country's important tropical forest resources. The agreements were made possible through contributions of over $15 million by the U.S. Government under the TFCA program and $2 million total from Conservation International and The Nature Conservancy.
Tropical forest conservation programs will work primarily in four geographic areas whose combined area constitutes approximately 40 percent of the entire territory of the Republic of Guatemala: the Motagua-Polochic-Caribbean Coast, the Western Volcanic Chain, the Cuchumatanes region and the May Biosphere Reserve. The latter is largest continuum of protected areas in Guatemala and Mexico with over two million biologically important hectares in Mesoamerican Biological Corridor and 19 ecosystems that are vital habitats for species including the jaguar, tapir, scarlet macaw, harpy eagle and many migratory bird species.
Jamaica
In September 2004, the Governments of the United States and Jamaica and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) concluded a debt-for-nature swap which will generate $16 million over 20 years for tropical forest conservation. There are seven priority sites for the funds throughout the island, from the Blue and John Crow mountains National Park in the East to the Negril Protected Area in the West. The swap was made possible by a contribution of $6.5 million from the U.S. Government and $1.3 million from TNC.
Website: Environmental Foundation of Jamaica
Panama
In July 2003, the Governments of the United States and Panama, together with The Nature Conservancy (TNC), signed a first set of debt-for-nature swap agreements under the TFCA, which will generate $10 million to improve management of the Upper Chagres Riger Basin in the Panama Canal Watershed. The watershed provides 50% of the water needed to operate the Panama Canal and 80% of the water needed for human consumption in the region. The swap was made possible by a contribution of $5.6 million from the U.S. Government and $1.2 million from TNC.
In August 2004, the Governments of the United States and Panama and TNC concluded a second debt-for-nature swap, which will generate $11 million over 12 years to help conserve 1.4 million acres (579,000 hectares) of the exceptionally rich forests of the Darien National Park bordering Colombia. The park forms a unique land bridge between North and South America and is home to such rare species as jaguar, harpy eagle, wild dog and tapir. The swap was made possible by a contribution of $6.5 million from the U.S. Government and $1.3 million from TNC.
Fundación Natura Website: www.naturapanama.org
Paraguay
The United States of America and the Republic of Paraguay concluded agreements, in June 2006, to reduce Paraguay’s debt payments to the United States by nearly $7.4 million. In return, Paraguay has committed these funds over the next 12 years to support grants to conserve and protect high value tropical forests in the southern corridor of the Atlantic Forest of Alto Parana. This work includes consolidating and enhancing protected areas within the San Rafael National Park Reserve, which contains the richest diversity of native plants and animals in Paraguay. The program will also support grants to protect the Caazapa National Park, Ybyturuzu Managed Resources Reserve, Tapyta Private Nature Reserve, Ybycui National Park, and Ypeti Private Nature Reserve. This debt-for-nature agreement was made possible through a contribution of nearly $4.8 million by the United States under the TFCA program.
Peru
Signed in June 2002, the Peru agreement represents the second time conservation groups have joined the U.S. Government in financing a TFCA subsidized debt swap. Under the agreement, The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International and the World Wildlife Fund each committed approximately $370,000 for a total of $1.1 million. The U.S. Government allocated $5.5 million to cancel a portion of Peru’s debt to the United States. As a result, Peru will save about $14 million in debt payments over the next 16 years and will provide the local currency equivalent of approximately $10.6 million toward conservation over the next 12 years. The Government of Peru will issue local-currency obligations in which the payment streams will go to fund tropical forest conservation activities through local NGOs in Peru. For every $1 of U.S. funds, almost $2 will be spent on conservation activities in Peru.
The agreements specify ten forested protected areas within the Peruvian National System of Protected Areas as priority conservation areas. These ten areas are: Pacaya Samiria National Reserve, Apurimac Reserved Zone, Manu Reserved Zone, Manu National Park, Machu Picchu Historical Sanctuary, Bahuaja Sonene National Park, Tambopata-Candamo Reserved Zone, Amarakaeri Reserved Zone, Alto Purús Reserved Zone, and the Cordillera Azul National Park. Together these areas cover more than 27.5 million acres within the Peruvian Amazon - about the size of the state of Virginia. In addition to ten protected areas, other forest land in Peru can receive grant funding by a majority vote of the Oversight Committee in accordance with the terms of the Forest Conservation Agreement.
Website: www.profonanpe.org.pe
Republic of the Philippines
The Governments of the United States and the Republic of the Philippines concluded a debt reduction agreement under TFCA in September 2002, which will generate $8 million for small grants for forest conservation activities over 14 years. While the funds may be used for a variety of protection and management purposes, the agreements identify conservation of coastal forests, especially mangroves, as a priority.
Department of Environment and Natural Resources Website: www.denr.gov.ph
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